LGBTQ+ Immigration: Performing in the Devised Documentary Production of La Gente de Mucho Más Allá

Abstract

For my Senior Project I performed in an original piece of theatre written by Andres Vasquez and Janelle McNeil titled, La Gente de Mucho Más Allá. I stepped into the role of José, a gay immigrant from México in pursuit of a professional dancing career. Building up this project and getting to understand the character of José made me further interested in the stories of other LGBTQ+ immigrants. This was the root of my research paper "LGBTQ+ Immigrants: Disproportionately Detained and Disregarded." Before the rehearsal process, I thought about my goals for this project and what I hoped to accomplish with it. Shedding light on a specific community, making their voices heard and making moves on ways to advocate. Those were some of my artistic aims for this project. Throughout the process of getting the show on its feet, we faced a drastic change in the world of theatre by which we all had to adhere: a production during a pandemic. With new guidelines in place for the health and safety of everyone, we navigated the waves of uncertainty and change very well, if I do say so myself. My senior project experience is encompassed entirely in this document.