Cara Mía Theatre Co. (Dallas) & Laboratorio de la Máscara (Mexico City) Present The Desert Prairie of Texas a new work based on texts in Memory of Fire by Eduardo Galeono Directed by Alicia Mártinez Álvarez July & August 2012 Dallas & Mexico CityDallas and Mexico City Cara Mía Theatre Co. and the Laboratorio de la Máscara (Mask Laboratory) from Mexico City continue with the third year of their international collaboration, led by Director Alicia Martínez Álvarez. Based on texts in Memory of Fire by Eduardo Galeano, The two companies will present the bilingual play, The Desert Prairie of Texas, in both countries utilizing Mexican folk masks for a theatrical production about Texas-Mexican history. In 2011, with funding from NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts & Letters) and the Ford Foundation, the two companies commissioned traditional Mexican mask maker Felipe Horta from Michoacan to develop a new hybrid of masks specifically designed for the use of dramatic performances. The result was a set a of 17 new half-masks (traditional Mexican masks typically cover the entire face) for the 2012 production, representing the characters of the The Desert Prairie of Texas – US colonists, African-Americans, and Mexicans living in Texas before secession from Mexico. During the 2011 collaboration funded by NALAC and Ford, the two groups co-presented El Viaje de Tina (Tina’s Journey) to critical acclaim. Mark Lowry from TheaterJones.Com wrote, “The movement from the performers displays effortless physical control, executed with enviable and expressive polish.” View a video trailer below, created by Cara Mía company member Fabián Aguirre. Tina's Journey from Fabián Aguirre on Vimeo. About el Laboratorio de la Máscara (www.laboratoriodelamascara.org.mx): Based in Mexico City, el Laboratorio de la Máscara is a repertory company formed by professionals from many disciplines, researching the technical and artistic possibilities of the mask. The company proposes theatrical works that bind cultural roots with social reality. El Laboratorio de la Máscara explores and reinvents the creative possibilities of a lucid, popular and contemporary theater. El Laboratorio de la Máscara has also developed a rigorous pedagogical approach to the actor's training and professional development around the theatrical mask's universe, leading to a vast educational offer. About Alicia Martínez Álvarez: Alicia Martínez Álvarez is the General Director for Laboratorio de la Máscara. Her work has been called “stunningly pure theater” by the Dallas Morning News and she has led residencies and presented plays throughout the world, including for US theater companies Teatro Dallas and Dell’Arte International in California. Ms. Martínez is a member of the National System of Arts Creators (SNCA), a federal program in Mexico that sponsors nationally and internationally renowned artists. Her background includes studying plastic arts at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) and later graduating from the University Theater Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She has also studied in France, where she specialized in mask acting at the Conservatoire Superior Nationale d'Art Dramatique de Paris. Alicia Martínez Álvarez has been teaching for 16 years, working with actors and musicians, teaching and designing scenic elements, building and working with masks, and creating plays using the language of the theatrical mask.