DiverseWorks

"Little Central America, 1984" is a performance written and performed by Elia Arce and Rubén Martínez that explores the origin story of the “Little Central Americas” established across the United States as a result of the civil wars of the 1980s. The performance brings together poetry, live music and testimonials recreating the era when the conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador displaced over one million people and spawned transnational solidarity through the Sanctuary Movement.

This new production will premiere at one of Houston’s own sanctuaries, the First Unitarian Universalist Church. Alongside writer-performers Elia Arce and Rubén Martínez, the cast includes a local Central American poet, a father and his four daughters from Houston’s Salvadoran community, and local Latinx musicians. The show culminates with a ceremony honoring Central American activists and their allies.