Latino comedy troupe Culture Clash proved popular enough in their recording of Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami for L.A. Theatre Works earlier this year for LATW to invite them back, this time to perform and record a piece closer to home, the San Diego-Tiajuana-based Bordertown. Bordertown plays Nov. 28-Dec. 2 at the Skirball Cultural Center.
Bordertown is Culture Clash's serio-comic examination of San Diego and Tiajuana's unique position as bordertowns on opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. Like The Laramie Project, Bordertown is composed of interviews with the people who populate San Diego and Tiajuana, a diverse group that ranges from right-winger and former mayor Roger Hedgecock to Filipino and Ugandan immigrants to Navy personnel to transvestites and punk rockers. Bordertown was originally commissioned by San Diego Repertory Theatre.
Culture Clash is Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza. Their past shows have included Anthology: A 15 Year Retrospective, A Bowl of Beings and Nuyorican Stories, which blend political, social and cultural commentary with vaudeville-styled comedy. Culture Clash made its debut in 1984 at the Galeria de la Raza on 24th and Bryant Streets in San Francisco's Mission District, an area they recently paid tribute to with Mission Magic Mystery Tour.
Tickets are $36-$40. Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. For reservations, call (310) 827-0889.
All TheatreWorks theatre productions are recorded for future broadcast on Santa Monica College's KCRW 89.9FM, on XM Satellite Radio and are sold on the L.A. Theatre Works homepage at http://www.latw.org. In the past 14 years, productions have won several awards including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Gold and Silver Awards, three Sony Awards, the Writer's Guild of America's Best Comedy Award and the 1999 Audie Award for Best Dramatic Production from the Audio Publishers Association. Their recording of The Prisoner of Second Avenue, featuring Richard Dreyfuss and Mason, was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album. — By Christine Ehren
