La Historia de Nuestras Vidas : The Story of Our Lives

Created by seven members of the Teatro Indocumentado ensemble, "La Historia de Nuestras Vidas,"tells about the personal experience of immigrating to the United States, working at the meatpacking plant and being detained in the Postville immigration raid. Comprised of six Guatemalans and one Mexican, the group chose to represent themselves in the presentation and helped one another tell their very important story. After connecting with local theater artists Kate Blair and Alex Skitolsky, the group began developing personal narratives in Spanish and transcribing the accounts into English. This text was used to guide the approach and structure for the play. The seven members of the ensemble initiated the directing and staging of the production, as they were the ones who had experiences the events themselves. The play was shown in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Chicago during 2009. The majority of the ensemble was deported towards the end of 2009.