About the Play:

Winner of the 1993 Governor General's Award for Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize).

Fronteras Americanas is a full-length comedic drama by Guillermo Verdecchia. Fueled by equal parts outrage, intelligence, and wit, this play re-creates one person's struggle to find a home between the borders of Latin American and Canadian cultures, including his experiences as an immigrant in a society in which few people can even pronounce his name. Fronteras Americanas is a brilliant and humourous examination of immigrant identity and exposes the raw nerve of living with one's heart in multiple places.

Fronteras Americanas, Spanish for ''American Borders,'' is about geography, identity formation, and the significance of home. Searching for meaning as immigrants, the two main characters explore and challenge our ideas of Latine stereotypes and cultural influences, while providing a historical perspective and plenty of laughs. This multi-character solo show works through bold juxtapositions and satiric reference points: Simón Bolívar and Speedy Gonzales; Columbus and Fodor's travel guides; Ricky Ricardo and the Latin Lover; La Bamba and Placido Domingo; Carlos Fuentes and American made-for-TV drug-wars movies. Fronteras Americanas is the author's autobiographical journey of self-exploration to rediscover his roots. Born in Argentina, his family immigrated to Canada when he was only two years of age. He grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and struggled with the notion of displacement and identity as an Argentinean-Canadian.

Fronteras Americanas premiered in 1993 at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. Since then it has enjoyed subsequent productions and revivals across Canada and in the US and has been performed in college theatre productions as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 1 female or 1 male

What people say:

"Among the finest one-person shows of the past decade." — Plays International

"A fast, furious and funny examination of Latin images in popular North American culture." — Globe & Mail

"By turns funny and profound and often both at once." — Toronto Star

"A witty and intelligently lively deconstruction of the Latin American experience." — Books in Canada

"Outrageous, funny, devastatingly witty." — CBC

About the Playwright:

Guillermo Verdecchia is a Canadian writer of drama, fiction, and film, as well as a director and actor. He is the recipient of a Governor-General's Award for Drama for his play Fronteras Americanas and a four-time winner of the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. His work has translated into Spanish and Italian, produced in Europe, Australia, and the US, and is studied in Latin America, Europe, and North America. As a director and actor he has worked at theatres across Canada, from the Stratford Festival to the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.