Teatro Jornalero
Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras
(Day Labor Theater Without Borders, TJSF)
is a Los Angeles-based ensemble theater group made up of day laborers. Our mission is to improve the lives of day laborers everywhere through the creation of plays by and for the day labor community, over 25,000 strong in the LA area. Responding to an often degrading and hostile work environment and an increasingly anti-immigrant climate nationally, the troupe uses theater, music and dialogue to educate immigrant workers about their rights; inspire day laborers to use theater as a tool for change-making; empower the community by reflecting their stories in their own voices; and humanize the immigration debate for the community at large.
Since fall of 2008, the ten-member troupe has developed fifteen short plays examining social justice issues such as worker and immigrant rights, building healthy families and workplaces, and exploring the creation of transnational cultures. TJSF performs its plays at sites where day laborers gather, mainly the 14 day labor centers supported by the City of Los Angeles. During the last year Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras has expanded its work to both Northern California and El Salvador.
We believe society can flourish when its members know and respect one another.
Caminos Al Paraiso (Paths to Paradise) by Juan Jose Mangandi follows a group of migrants traveling from their home countries in Central America and Mexico to the United States. They cross borders in harm’s way, facing off against Coyotes (human smugglers), theft, illness, and death. Finally, after they reach a migrant shelter, their long journey to paradise begins.
This epic story is about solidarity, suffering, friendship and hope in the lives of people who struggle for a better life for themselves and for the families they left behind and desperately want to help.
To learn more or to sign up for our mailing list contact Lorena Moran, TJSF Program Director, at lmoran@cornerstonetheater.org.
