In the sea, six people have to think like one.
Manual for a Desperate Crossing is an epic migratory montage that follows a group of Cuban rafters, or “balseros,” fleeing to the United States in the mid-1990s. Cuban-American playwright María Irene Fornés crafts this one-act with her distinctively stylized prose, which draws from real-life testimonies of balseros, to create a vast landscape of overlapping fears and dreams. The solidity and security of a home lost to a precarious raft, a better future conflicting with an unyielding past, the fight to exist within nature and against nature; these oppositions materialize on stage like narrative tableaus, memorializing the histories of the thousands who have undertaken these desperate crossings. Directed by Princeton junior Didi Vekri with lighting design and dramaturgy by senior Elena Milliken.
Talkback: February 27
Following the February 27 performance, join Elena Milliken in conversation with Assistant Professor of Anthropology and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) Amelia Frank-Vitale, whose research explores how people manage and make sense of an ever-expanding U.S. border regime in the Americas. The conversation will include Professor Frank-Vitale’s fieldwork with deportees and the instability of immigration, her experience with migrant caravans in Central America, and the centrality of narrative in both theater and anthropology (i.e. the power of a story).
Photo Highlights
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Photo by Laura Pedrick
Tickets & Details
The show is free and open to the public; advance tickets required.
Get tickets through University Ticketing
Reach University Ticketing by email at tixhelp@princeton.edu or by phone at 609-258-9220.
Directions
Enter the Lewis Arts complex through the main Forum level entry doors located across from the Princeton NJ Transit Station/Wawa. All other entry doors are locked on weekends.
Get directions to the Wallace Theater, located on the Forum level of the Lewis Arts complex.
Accessibility
Every performance includes Open/live captioning (CART) in English and Spanish. Wallace Theater is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information at our various locations. Students in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.
