Cara Mia Theatre to Present Border Story For Children & Families TINA'S JOURNEY in February

Amidst growing threats to immigrant families due to controversial federal policies, Cara Mía Theatre will revive Tina's Journey / El Viaje de Tina—a poignant play exploring immigration and the power of culture in fostering belonging. Presented in association with Mexico City's Laboratorio de la Máscara, this visually striking production features traditional Mexican masks and is designed for young audiences and families. Performed mostly in Spanish with English supertitles, it runs at the Dallas Latino Cultural Center from February 8–23, 2025.

“This important production is about the power of love, family, and culture to support children and their young families in the face of threats against immigrants in the U.S.,” says David Lozano, Executive Artistic Director of Cara Mía Theatre, who is also acting in the production. “Culture heals and will always triumph against oppression when there is freedom to share our music, dance, and theatre in community.”

Tina's Journey is about a young girl, her family and her ancestors who hope to cross the U.S.-Mexico border before the Day of the Dead holidays. For safe-keeping, Tina takes a piece of her native land in her pocket and her personal history in her heart. She also leaves a trail of marigolds for her ancestors to safely follow her family across the border. However, Tina's new reality in the United States makes her ill to the edge of death. She believes that her past has abandoned her, but her eldest ancestor helps her understand that the coexistence of the two cultures will form part of her new identity.

“Tina's Journey is not only beautifully performed and conceived, it looks like a million bucks,” says Mark Lowry, TheatreJones.com. “The production uses a 50/50 mix of Spanish and English, but even if there were no words, the narrative would still be evident in the sensory feast that is the physical storytelling. That's a tradition, one hopes, that is never lost.”

Tina's Journey is one of several collaborations between Cara Mía Theatre and Mexican company, the Laboratorio de la Máscara. The two companies first co-produced Espejos/Mirrors: The Tempest/La Tempest at the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City in 2004 and co-produced the US premiere of Tina's Journey/El Viaje de Tina at the Latino Cultural Center in 201 in Dallas and again in 2012 and 2018. From 2019 until 2023, the two companies developed and premiered an original play, Origénes/Origins, which was funded the TACA New Works Grant Fund. Over the years, the two companies have trained in the techniques of mask performance through workshops in both Dallas and Mexico City under Director of the Laboratorio de la Máscara, Alicia Martínez Álvarez.

TINA'S JOURNEY / EL VIAJE DE TINA

In association with Laboratorio de la Máscara from Mexico City

Tina's Journey / El Viaje de Tina

By Berta Hiriart
Music by Eugenio Toussaint
Directed by Alicia Martínez Álvarez

Saturday & Sundays, February 8 – Sunday, February 23, 2025
Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Latino Cultural Center (Performance Hall)
2600 Live Oak
Dallas, Texas 75204

Appropriate for all ages. Performed in Spanish with English subtitles.

ABOUT LABORATORIO DE LA MÁSCARA

Based in Mexico City, the Laboratorio de la Máscara is a repertory company formed by professionals from many disciplines, researching the technical and artistic possibilities of the mask. The company proposes theatrical works that bind cultural roots with social reality. El Laboratorio de la Máscara explores and reinvents the creative possibilities of a lucid, popular and contemporary theater. The Laboratorio de la Máscara has also developed a rigorous pedagogical approach to the actor's training and professional development around the theatrical mask's universe, leading to vast educational offerings.

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