CANCELLED

In 2015, Borderlands Theater with the National New Play Network (NNPN) commissioned Virginia Grise to adapt Helena Maria Viramontes’ epic novel for the stage, Their Dogs Came with Them. The novel ascribes new meanings to gang life dramas, gender queer identities, and Chicana/o coming of age barrio tales. Told through the voices of four Mexican-American protagonists in East Los Angeles during the tumultuous 60s, much like the structure of a freeway, the lives of the four youth intersect and intertwine, as stories are revealed about the effects and aftereffects of the Vietnam War, homelessness, mental illness, and state violence.

Presented by the Cornell University Department of English as part of a conference honoring Professor Helena Maria Viramontes and directed by playwright Virginia Grise. Performance will feature the Chicano rock band Quetzal.