Plays based on the oral histories of Tucson’s barrios will fill the plaza at the Tucson Convention Center’s Alva B. Torres Plaza from Nov. 12 to 15 as the Barrio Stories Festival marks its 10th year.

Marc David Pinate created the Barrio Stories Project in 2016 to preserve Tucson’s history by telling the community’s stories through theater. The event includes mini-plays and activities to celebrate Tucson’s Mexican American barrios, past and present. It runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Borderlands Theater outreach coordinator Lilianna Espinoza has played many roles during her time with the company. She started as a volunteer and transitioned to stage manager and a staff member before moving into her current role. Over the years, Espinoza has seen the impact Barrio Stories has had on the community.

“We do oral histories where we interviewed some of the people in these communities about Tucson, their history and then we turned them into plays,” Espinoza said. “We put on these shows for these communities to give back the history, to educate and not forget our history because a lot of the barrios are a part of Tucson and some of that history has been wiped out.”

As part of the series’ 10th anniversary, this year will be the biggest event yet, with 10 plays on rotation during the four-day event.

Each Barrio Stories event has its own original productions, and this year’s lineup mixes new plays with past ones from other barrios, including Barrio Anita, Nogales and the West Side.

Thursday’s main stage lineup includes “Dirt” by Elaine Romero and “Slap, Slap, Brush” by Martín Zimmerman, and 10-minute plays are scheduled at noon and 2 p.m. Pinate also has two plays in the festival, “That’s Another Story” and “Mujeres Poderosas.”

One of the new plays, “Chinese Market,” written by Milta Ortiz, touches on the bonds between the Mexican and Chinese cultures in Tucson.

“It’s a really big deal because it’s giving an ode to our Chinese family, it’s like giving them their props because they are a big part of Tucson’s history,” Espinoza said.

The festival is meant not only to entertain but also to educate the public. Barrio Buffalo Works will feature an adobe brick installation workshop, and David Walker will collect adobe stories on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

A photo exhibit, the “Barrio Stories 10 Year Retrospective,” sponsored by Rio Nuevo, will be on display daily. The Tucson Presidio Museum will present a lecture, “The Birth of Tucson,” at noon Thursday.

New features of the festival include a collaboration with the University of Arizona Poetry Center, which will present a poetry reading each day at 12:30 p.m. The poets are Mariana Rivera on Thursday, Eva Sierra on Friday, Mele Martinez on Saturday and Ofelia Zepeda on Sunday.

Maribel Alvarez of the Southwest Folklife Alliance will lead a workshop on collecting oral history on Friday and Sunday mornings. A children’s art tent will offer arts and crafts Friday through Sunday.

Rachel Pollack and Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson will also host a Sonoran flour tortilla-making demonstration at 11 a.m. Thursday and Saturday.

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference will present a showcase at 3 p.m. each day to close the event, with different mariachi groups performing, from student groups such as Mariachi Las Aguilitas de Davis-Romero Bilingual Magnet School to independent companies such as Mariachi Nueva Azteca de Tucson.

There will be multiple food vendors on site, including Rollies Mexican Patio and Churros Inzunza, along with an exclusive appearance from the Chinese Chorizo Project on Friday, Nov. 13.

Part of the project’s mission is to make theater more accessible for the community.

“We believe that telling stories is healing, so we make sure that Barrio Stories is accessible because theater has been historically more of an expensive thing to do,” Espinoza said. “We have a suggested donation of $25, but it’s ultimately free because we want everybody to be able to experience these stories and take empowerment from them.”

Kenia Licea is a University of Arizona journalism student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at klicea2004@arizona.edu.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation.