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 We're performing LIVE for the first time since the pandemic began!  
The Mix Vol. 2: Live at the Batey: written & performed by Eric Avilés & Arlene Chico-Lugo

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY | TWO WAYS TO JOIN
In 2020, they captivated us with their powerful play “Where You From? What You Be About?”
In 2021, they had us laughing with their hilarious yet heartfelt “Video Mixtape Vol. 1: Art of the Possible.”
In 2022, they wrote, filmed and rehearsed new works of comedy and poignant sketches.
In 2023, they’re back and ready to entertain with their new works in “The Mix Vol. 2: Live at the Batey.”

Join dynamic husband-and-wife duo Arlene Chico-Lugo and Eric Avilés as they take the stage on March 24th with their newest creation, "The Mix Vol. 2: Live at the Batey.” An unforgettable evening of live theater, dance, music and video that celebrates Puerto Rican history, resistance, Black beauty, love, life, self-discovery and cultural connections. Arlene and Eric are joined by collaborators and guest artists in a sacred space - the theater. Immersive and visually stunning, the evening will inspire and uplift – including their hilarious, thought-provoking follow-up to their hit sketch about an “imaginary boxing match between the USA and Puerto Rico.”  Join them In-Person or by Simultaneous Live-Stream.
Guest appearance include Jose "Dr. Drum" Ortiz, Priscilla Flores, Clement Mensah, Yadira De La Riva, Belange Rodriguez, Rachel Castillo. Roxanne Young & Leann Gioia from Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company.  Music by Marcelino Feliciano & Nicki Adams.   

WHEN:  March 24th, 2023
TIME: 7:00 pm (east coast time)

WHERE:  Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture 450 W. Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY
HOW MUCH: $10, Seniors $8, Free for Students


FOR TICKETS for LIVE or Online Streaming click HERE


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I'm directing pxso: PhoeniX rising in ScorpiO written and performed by Kilusan Bautista.  

More INFO....
Indigo Hero presents "Two Stories About the Same Miracle"Two Stories About the Same Miracle -- is a multimedia theater experience where parents of a special needs child tell their respective stories about her birth and first few years of life. Each parent is dedicating one hour each, to their interpretation.

Within the father’s (Kilusan Bautista) interpretation entitled "pxso: PhoeniX rising in ScorpiO", he acknowledges his years of struggle with depression and his rediscovery of humanity; his story uses a fantastical approach and takes viewers on a journey through a land that is inhabited by an animated bird/Phoenix. The overarching themes discussed within his story are: common stereotypes about BIPOC fathers; deaf-blindness; disability rights and his daughter’s enduring spirit. He fuses storytelling, projection, animation and movement. Written & Performed by Kilusan Bautista; Theater Direction by Eric Aviles; Audio & Visual Design by Andrea Sabariego, DJ Royal aka Fernando Singleton, Sikhuthali Oliver Bonga & Zach Rothman- Hicks.

Performance Dates:
May 6 and 7, 2022: doors open at 6pm, show begins at 7pm


Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company
70 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: Slide scale & no one turned away, $10-$30.

​Wheelchair accessible.  ASL interpreters provided

This summer Liberation Arts Collective brings you a collection of short sketches and conversations that will make you laugh, and cry out for justice. Their performances reflect on the past year; the pandemic, injustice, creating art as a couple, sustainable love and joy, and even an imaginary boxing match between the US and Puerto Rico! With a mix of drama, comedy, and satire they comment on what it means to be free. 

JUNE   22ND   7PM (est)   FREE online

View on Facebook:        facebook.com/HostosCenterfortheArtsCulture
View on YouTube:  youtube.com/HostosCenter
View on Zoom:  https://zoom.us/j/95775609201




​I'm excited to share with you a film screening of my solo play "Where You From? What You Be About?"  

ONE NIGHT ONLY.  This Saturday,
January 23rd, 2021

During these Covid times we filmed this video in our apartment.  A lot of love went into this project and I hope you're able to see it.  

​The film will have Closed Caption with Spanish subtitles too! 

You can watch it at 7pm (EST) via:
1. FACEBOOK LIVE : @CasitaMariabx 
2. BRONXNET:  Channel 67 or OPTIMUM/2133 FIOS in the Bronx

PLEASE JOIN US for a live Talk Back following the show on Zoom by clicking here and entering the code.  http://bit.ly/talkbacklive CODE: 506815



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BUILDING OUR TABLES
​Our organization Liberation Arts Collective will be facilitating a workshop on "Navigating Our Relationship to Money and Running a Business”

Tuesday, December 15th, 2020 at 7:30pm (east coast time)

This workshop will examine some of our ideas about money and what holds us back from thinking of ourselves as artist entrepreneurs.

THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR

Register for this free event at: https://forms.gle/iJPPxrWSgzB1AAH6A



My wife Arlene and I will be presenting an interactive workshop sharing our creative process of producing my solo play "Where You From? What You Be About?" and   exploring personal narratives on identity.  We're looking forward to this amazing time with the New Jersey City University's Center for the Arts community. 

ONLINE Streaming   
1 Night Only!


Where You From? What You Be About?
hosted by Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture 


​When: June 3rd, 2020
Time: 7:30pm

Available on Zoom: 
zoom.us/j/5252784114

Available on Facebook: 
facebook.com/HostosCenterfortheArtsCulture
​

The Show by Raymond Morales will be hosting an online streaming of a prerecorded performance of Where You From? What You Be About? that took place at UrbanTheater Company in the fall of 2017

Live Q&A with Eric Avilés and Eddie Torres will follow after.


Where You From? What You Be About?
will be at Illinois State University 


Wednesday November 20th, 2019


Where:
Westhoff Theater
​in the Centennial East Building 


Time:
7pm

Free & Open to the Public


Sponsors
Multi-Ethnic Cultural and Co-Curricular Programming Advisory Committee (MECCPAC)
Association of Latin American Students (ALAS)
School of Theatre and Dance
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Sociology and Anthropology Latin American and Latino Studies Program


Proyecto Pa'lante & Angelina Pedroso Center presents:   Where You From? What You Be About?  

When: Thursday, October 10th, 2019
Where:
Auditorium at Northeastern Illinois University
5500 N St Louis Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Time: 10:50am 

​Free to the public.  No RSVP required



The Latino Student Association of Adelphi University presents:
Where 
You From? What You Be About?  


Tuesday, April 16th, 2019
6pm at the Concert Hall 
Performance Arts Center 
1 South Ave, Garden City, NY 11530


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​Winner of the 2018 New York Innovative Theater Award for "Outstanding Original Full Length Script" and nominated for "Outstanding Solo Performance" 

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  Where You From? What You Be About? 
  
Written and Performed by Eric Avilés
Directed by Edward Torres

 January 18th - February 4th
  Thursday- Saturday 8pm
Sunday 3pm


at Downtown Art 70 E. 4th St. NYC
  
For tickets click photo on left.

Hope to see, peace!


  

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October 27-29th in Chicago 

UrbanTheater Company, Liberation Arts Collective, and Eric Avilés presents a workshop of  "Where You From? What You Be About? "

"Where You From? What You Be About?" is an autobiographical solo play set in the historically Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park Chicago. Seamlessly moving from past to present, “Where You From? What You Be About?” tells a story of how a man and his family reconcile the influences and subsequent death of a family member due to gun and gang violence. A cousin’s funeral becomes the catalyst for confronting a buried truth, for facing the effects of growing up surrounded by poverty, violence, and the need for healing. Using humor and drama this transformational journey is an interdisciplinary solo play that includes spoken word, video, and a live DJ. * Recommended for ages 12+

Directed by Edward Torres
Music and sounds provided by DJ Jonathan Hogstad
Projections by Anna Carhart
Stage Manager by G.V. Maldonado 

Shows runs for ONLY 3 days. 
Friday: October 27th, 8pm
Saturday: October 28th, 8pm 
Sunday: October 29th, 2pm



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I will be performing with Liberation Arts Collective:  La Patria vs Uncle Sam to raise funds for relief efforts in Puerto Rico and Mexico.  

Sunday, October 22 at 8pm.


Tickets are $50 and $25 standing room. Donations are welcome.





​Our buildings may crumble but our spirit is Indestructible.  Join us for a celebration of the Spirit of the People of Puerto Rico and Mexico. 100% of the ticket income and donations will go to NGO’s, local organizations directly working with the affected. We are in touch with several and the recipients will be chosen and publicized closer to the event.


Featuring:  Flaco Navaja, Irene Sofia Lucio, Emma Ramos, David Zayas, Rosal Colon, Desmar Guevara & Elise Santora, Melissa Diaz, Ximena Salgado, muMs and Taylor Schilling, D'Marquesina, Liberation Arts Collective and more to come..

Partners:  LABrynth Theater, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Theater, Barefoot Theatre Co., National Black Theater, InViolet Theater Co., Harlem Stage, Sol Project, Rhymes Over Beats, H.O.L.A., Two River Theater, Pregones / Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre and more to come…


For Info. http://www.cherrylanetheatre.org/onstage/Indestructible/

Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/store/32995/alldonations


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Join us to celebrate the life of Max Ferrá!  

We are proud to present a reading series of plays, both old and new, to honor the life and legacy of Max Ferrá, founder and first Artistic Director of INTAR, who died on February 4th in Miami after a battle with pneumonia. 

The series will consist of 8 full-length plays and 6 short plays by artists who have worked closely with INTAR and Max over the years.  The celebration begins Friday May 19th and culminates on May 25th with the reading of a new play and a community remembrance and acknowledgement of Max's extraordinary life and achievements.

 HIS PASSION FOR BEAUTY:
 A Reading Series in Celebration of Max Ferrá  
 
I'll be performing in a stage reading of: 
MIRIAM'S FLOWERS by Migdalia Cruz - Friday May 19th, 2017  at 7pm
THE NEXT STOP by Carmen Rivera - Wednesday, May 24th, 2017  at 7pm

 
*All events are free, open to the public, and will be held at INTAR THEATRE (500 West 52nd Street, corner of 10th Avenue).  Seating is limited.  To reserve a spot at any event, please email your request to: reservations@intartheatre.org
 
​ 2017


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I'll be directing an excerpt of Where You From?  What You Be About? for the LIVING ALTAR  
​A Work-In-Progress Presentation
May 23 & May 24th 2017 - 5pm to 10pm* 
$7 Advance tickets / $10 at the door


The Little Theater at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center  
31-10 Thomson Ave Room E-24 Queens, NY

* AUDIENCES CAN ARRIVE AT ANY POINT BETWEEN 5PM & 10PM, AND COME AND GO AS THEY PLEASE.

ABOUT LIVING ALTAR
Living Altar is a multi-disciplinary performative celebration of the lives of individuals killed in conflict, whether military or civilian, and regardless of origin, gender, religion, status, or profession. Through a series of successive 30-minute performance pieces called Living Altars, casualties are given a name, a face, a story, and equal value. These altars will be based on information gathered through surveys completed by those close to the deceased. Living Altar aims to create a space for collective grief, and asks the difficult question: what is a life worth? 

More Info and tickets: th

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2915199​

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Looking forward to the Manifest Festival at El Puente on March 18th, 2017. 

​Arlene Chico-Lugo and Eric Aviles of Liberation Arts Collective use a stylistic agitprop theatre to address the colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. It will be a match you don’t want to miss. Who will you cheer for? Uncle Sam or La Patria? Gain historical facts in this spectacular event. Co-starring Christin Eve Cato. Photo by Claudio Gaete.

IT'S A FREE EVENT 
For Info go to. https://www.facebook.com/events/1051432758294094/     


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Brooklyn Arts Exchange is excited to host our fourth annual ARTIST SERVICES DAY featuring an array of talks and workshops designed to serve working dance, theater, performance artists and their supporters.
All day Sunday, February 5, 2017 — FREE
Reservations are highly recommended. 
http://artistservices.bax.org/special-projects/2017-artist-services-day/

I will be sitting on a panel discussion: ARTISTS TEACHING THEIR ART: A PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE INTERSECTION OF WORKING AS A PROFESSIONAL GENERATIVE ARTIST AND TEACHING ARTIST



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 I will be performing excerpts of my solo play Where You From ? What You Be About? along with Arlene Chico-Lugo for the Opening Reception at Queens Museum. 
 
Opening Reception at Queens Museum
It's About Us: A New New Yorkers Program Exhibition
Dec 18 2016
1:00pm–4:00pm
(performing from 1-1:30pm and 2:45pm-3:15pm in the theatre)


Join the Queens Museum’s New New Yorkers Program to celebrate It’s About Us, an exhibition created by the participants in a wide range of workshops offered in 2016 including: Experimental Watercolor, Collective Storytelling, Photobook Storytelling, Drawing Sound, Basic Sculpture, Basic Digital Photography, Drawing Journal, Spanish for Mandarin Speakers, Advanced Silkscreen, and Design Thinking. These works reveal the diversity of  visions, cultures, concerns and artistic approaches of our immigrant adult community that proves their tenacity to improve their life and build a new and better future in spite of adversity.
During the opening reception there will be hands on artmaking workshops, video screening and performances led by New New Yorker participants. We welcome public of  all ages to join us and celebrate the diversity of our community. For more info. go to ......www.queensmuseum.org/events/its-about-us



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I will be performing an excerpt of my solo "Where You From? What You be About?"

​THINKING OUT LOUD

Friday, September 9th 2016
@ The New School Tishman Auditorium
63 5th Avenue, NYC  6:30 PM
 
Join us for this performance event featuring artists and activists who work in a variety of disciplines, with youth who are caught in the criminal justice system. The event will be moderated by social sculptor and art curator, Rasu Jilani and will feature renowned actress, poet, playwright, educator and advocate, Liza Jessie Peterson, who will read from her new book, All Day about her work with 16-17 year olds at Rikers. Esteemed Film Director, Writer and Founder of IMPACT Theater of Harlem, Jamal Joseph will
share selections from his book Panther Baby and screen scenes from his new film 'Chapter and Verse'; performances from Eric Aviles, Creative Capital Grantee, Shaun Leonardo and poet,  teacher and founding member of the legendary music and
spoken word group,The Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole will join our special guest panel!
 

exalt and The New School invite you to participate in Arts Advocacy: Youth in the System 
- a two-day symposium aimed at exploring the impact of sentencing young people in the criminal justice system. Our goal is to increase awareness of the need to Raise the Age of criminal responsibility in New York State, one of only 2 states in the country that continues to prosecute 16-year olds in adult courts.


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​Several years ago my cousin was assassinated by a rival gang member in the streets of Chicago.  At his funeral I was confronted by my own past, my own past life in gangs.  I feel compelled to share my personal story Where You From? What You be About? with the intention of creating healing circles for youth and families who are effected by the increasing violence in Chicago.


This workshop performance will be the first time I materialize what’s been only on paper to the stage. 

Directing Where You From? What You be About? is award winning director Edward Torres; a friend and mentor from Chi-Town who has directed for The Public, Second Stage, Steppenwolf, and Goodman to name a few. 

DJ Jonathan Hogstad will be on stage spinning the one’s and two’s with video projections. 
Lighting design by Abigail Hoke-Brady 


WHEN: June 5th and 6th, 2016
TIME:  7:30pm
WHERE:  El Barrio Artspace PS 109 
215 East 99th Street, New York, NY 10029

$10.....Get tickets now (limited seating).  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/where-you-from-what-you-be-about-tickets-25592857927 



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I will be performing in the California Tour of..... 

PLACAS
By Paul S. Flores
Directed by Fidel Gomez


DATES:
January 21-24, 2016
at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA
7:30pm
for $15 tickets go to http://bpt.me/2467972 

February 3-5, 2016
7:30PM
Atherton Theater, Delta College Stockton, CA
Call Irene Calimlim for ticket info 209-941-0701

February 11-13, 2016
7:30PM
South Coast Repertory 
655 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
$10 Tickets: 
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2485157

February 18-28 (two weeks)
8:00PM (5PM Sundays)
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA
Casa 0101 Theater
Tix $20 general admission click here: www.casa0101.org 

Originally developed with Cornerstone Theatre’s artistic director Michael John Garcés, and with the 2016 production directed by Fidel Gomez, PLACAS (barrio slang for body tattoos) is a bilingual tale of fathers and sons, transformation and redemption that illuminates one man’s determination to reunite his family after surviving civil war in El Salvador, immigration, deportation, prison and street violence. PLACAS stars Ric Salinas a founding member of the critically acclaimed performance group CULTURE CLASH as Fausto “Placas” Carbajal, a Salvadoran immigrant who tries to reclaim his family while letting go of his gangbanger past.
PLACAS is written by acclaimed spoken word artist Paul Flores. Flores interviewed more than 100 gang members, parents and intervention workers in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and El Salvador to develop material for the script. Salinas’ role of Fausto is loosely based on the experiences of ex-gang member Alex Sanchez, founder of the Los Angeles based non-profit Homies Unidos.

"a fiery Evangelist preacher, Nelson (Eric Aviles, an amazing actor), is full of fury..."  Edge Media Network, Los Angeles


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NOMINATED for BEST ENSEMBLE by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics!

I will be acting in the Bay Area premiere of My Mañana Comes at Marin Theatre Company.

​Dates: October 29th to November 22nd, 2015 

ABOUT:

Join four busboys at an uptown NYC restaurant as they learn the hard way how to deal with extreme pay cuts that jeopardize their plans, their dignity and their camaraderie.

The severity of the minimum wage crisis and rights for undocumented restaurant workers lie at the forefront of the Bay Area Premiere of Elizabeth Irwin's My Mañana Comes at Marin Theatre Company. As a 2013-14 Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow, Ms. Irwin debuted Mañana Off-Broadway last September at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Though Mañana is no fairy tale, it offers a fresh take on a story about four busboys' pursuit of the “American Dream” and a sociopolitical commentary on the solidarity of the working class.
   For Info. and Tickets for My Mañana Comes go to: www.marintheatre.org

REVIEWS!!!!

"An excellent Eric Avilés....
Mañana is an enjoyable evening with some standout moments, particularly when Tubbs or Avilés’ eyes convey an inner struggle, all the more significant for being unspoken." --- San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Real-busboys-of-the-Upper-East-Side-6610343.php


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Stage Reading of Opening the Box on August 20th, 2015 

WHERE: Fortune Society; Castle Gardens, 625 W. 140th St., New York, NY 10031
TIME: 6-8pm


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A New Play by Raquel Almazán
Directed by Charlotte Brathwaite

Featuring: Eric Aviles, Liza Fernandez, Zoe Garcia, Zuleyma Guevara, Clara Lopera, Mariana Newhard, Jay Santiago, Monica Steuer, Teresa Yenque



Limited Engagement:
April 24 at 2:30pm and 8:00pm, April 25 at 2:30pm

Ford Studio at Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street


La Paloma Prisoner is a multi-disciplinary play about the reclamation of identity by incarcerated women in the Colombian prison system.  Based on the true story of a group of female inmates selected every year as beauty queen contestants at the Buen Pastor prison in Bogota, this new play interweaves the ritualistic journey of a “parade of prisoners” with Colombia’s social, political, and spiritual history. 


FREE ADMISSION WITH RESERVATION AT LAPALOMAPRISONERTICKETS@GMAIL.COM

 



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I WAS A PART OF THIS BEAUTIFUL GATHERING OF ARTISTS FOR A WHOLE MONTH!

I will be performing in the remounting of Maria's Circular Dance with Borderlands Theatre in the National Latino Theatre Festival: Encuentro in Los Angeles.   For information go to http://thelatc.org/upcoming-shows/marias-circle-dance/  
October 17-26th, 2014 at Los Angeles Theatre Center.


The most significant gathering of Latina/o theatre artists comes to downtown’s historic core! This historic, month-long event is the first national theater festival to bring together:

• More than 19 theater companies
• 150 artists from the U.S. and Puerto Rico
• 17 works that explore the Latina/o experience on stage
• 2 Pulitzer Prize-winning works
• Stories of violence at the border
• Pressing immigration concerns
• The complexities of romantic relationships and families
• Various FREE events
 


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I LIKE TO BE HERE: JACKSON HEIGHTS REVISITED, OR, THIS IS A MANGO with Theatre 167 is part of the Village Theatre Festival 2014 "E Pluribus"
September 6th-27th, 2014
At New Ohio Theatre

I grew an awesome beard for the play and I'm hella funny too!
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July 18 - 27, 2014

New York Times Theatre Pick!!!   Arlene Chico-Lugo and I get mentioned in the NYT Critic Review!!! 

"That device works particularly well for Camilo Almonacid’s “After the Crowds,” a subtle two-hander featuring immigrant janitors from Colombia (Eric Aviles and Arlene Chico-Lugo) on cleanup duty in 1964. It is smartly broken up into three parts, and with each appearance the two deepen a portrait that by the end encompasses immigrants of all sorts in all times."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/theater/worlds-fair-play-festival-at-the-queens-theater.html?_r=0

The THE WORLD’S FAIR PLAY FESTIVAL (WFPF) is a presentation of ten original ten-minute plays inspired by the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs. 

The WFPF will celebrate the rich, vibrant history that continues to animate Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the borough of Queens, and more broadly – New York City.  The multiplicity of cultures and ideologies that were on display at the World’s Fairs and that populate Queens today will play an integral part in the WFPF.


​This production was with Queens Theatre and Theatre 167.


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"MARIA'S CIRCULAR DANCE" & "TRASH"

Will be performing in two original play in repertoire:

Maria's Circular Dance 

by Medardo Treviño
translated and directed by Eva Tessler

Trash 
by Kara Hartzler 
directed by Marc David Pinate

Borderlands Theatre in Tucson, Arizona.  
February 13-March 2nd, 2014

http://www.borderlandstheater.org

​photo by Andres Volovsek






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