Las Cruces, NM – On this edition of PUENTES a la comunidad, bridges to the community, host Emily Guerra met with The Tornillo Collective Artists/Writers, Nancy Lorenza Green and Raquel Barrientos Mejia, to talk to us about a play focusing on the border and immigration – “ESCAPE FROM TORNILLO.” It is an artistic way to bring awareness for healing and social change. The Tornillo Collective was founded in 2018 in El Paso, Texas by Afro-Chicana writer/musician Nancy Lorenza Green. They are a diverse, multidisciplinary group of teaching and performing artists from the U.S.-Mexico border region.
“ESCAPE FROM TORNILLO” is a two-act play directed by Valerie Muruato and written by The Tornillo Collective. It is about unaccompanied refugee minors in detention centers like those found in Tornillo, Texas. A table reading performance of scenes from the play will be held on Wednesday, October 23rd, from 5-7 p.m. at the University of Texas El Paso’s Blumberg Auditorium, First Floor University Library. The event is FREE and open to the public. There will also be poetry readings by Green and Mejia, as well as Maria Perez and Toni Beatriz Fuentes; a photo essay by Jennifer Lucero; and music by Ernesto Chacon & Valerie Muruato. More information available with Nancy Lorenza Green at 915-803-4882 and on Facebook.