"De Camino al Ahorita" A Captivating Portrayal of Immigration, Mexican-U.S. Border Issues

The hallway outside of Northeastern Illinois University's Recital Hall was bustling and crowded on Oct. 6 as audience members entered the Hall and filled seats to watch the original and inspirational play, De Camino al Ahorita; although the play was in Spanish, the screen above the stage displayed English supertitles. The play, written by NEIU's very own Spanish professor, Raul Dorantes, and directed by Ignacio Guevara, humorously and brilliantly illustrated the discrimination faced by the immigrant community in the United States, as well as the real- life dangers that come with crossing the border into America in order to find a better life. The three main characters, Man A (played by the fantastic Marco Polo Soto), Man B (J.J. Rome- ro), and a Border Patrol Official (Dan Hanrahan) are each on different paths of life, but are brought together as they stagger through the desert lost, dehydrated, and slowly losing their minds. The stage lit up as spectators fixed their eyes on a large poster board where the border between Mexico and the U.S. was painted on; one shoe laid solitarily as Man A, carrying a backpack, blanket and empty water gallon, wandered aimlessly onto the stage first and bumped into Man B. Man A gets lost trying to cross the desert going north—from Mexico to the U.S.—while Man B is a much older man who is crossing the dessert southward as he leaves America with the intention of walking back to Mexico. Although it is not confirmed anytime during the play, it can be safely assumed that the third character, Border Patrol Officer, is Cuban due to the clues that are said in the dialogue throughout the play. De Camino was split into two environments: one is the desert, where the three men meet, along with an unknown setting where three entities (also played by the three actors) conversed and joked with each other. To depict this other world, a video was played on the same screen directly above the stage that showed the supertitles, rapidly showing different body parts like arms, legs, hands, and lips as the voices spoke. These voices seemed to belong to the dead, since the things spoken among the three of them made it obvious that they were deceased spirits. The play's usage of the screen was beneficial and creative, since it helped make the play accessible to English speakers. The backdrop poster was also fantastic—despite its minimalistic and simple the colors, the darker lines popped, making it visually appealing overall. The acting was spot on; everything was believable, giving the audience a feeling that the script had been rehearsed a million times. De Camino al Ahorita intensely exhibited the complex elements that make up the mentality about immigrants held by thousands of Americans. The topics of xenophobia—fear of the unknown—and what it means to be legal were emphasized as Man B tried to make the Official understand that everyone living in the U.S. is either an immigrant or has parents and ancestors who were immigrants. This play truly could not have been presented at a better time, since more and more politicians are following Arizona's lead in creating harsher bills in order to take matters of immigration into their own hands. This is not the first time one of Dorantes' plays has been performed at NEIU; Una Hormiga en la Veintiséis was performed last fall semester, in which Soto was also a part of. After a strong applause and a few comments from the audience that commended De Camino al Ahorita's writing, directing and acting, it was clear that Dorantes touched the heart of those who had been either directly or indirectly affected by this country's current immigration policy.