Gloria travels from her native Mexico, to join her husband, Victor, on a migrant farmworkers’ camp. Her arrival on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration reveals stark contrasts between the American dream and her reality. A series of visits by a liberated, contemporary Virgen de Guadalupe offers Gloria a glimpse of her life and legacy in the context of other presidential eras–Reagan and Trump, and presents a life-altering choice: stay in the United States, and accept her status as a member of the underclass, or abandon the agreed-upon plan and her future family to claim dignity and fulfillment.  There and Back defines the tipping-point of injustice to immigrants mandated by the Trump presidency and offers a human voice to narrate the long American journey there.

Ground Floor Theatre co-director Patti Neff-Tiven directs this new work by Raul Garza (National Latino Playwriting Award winner for Fantasmaville), with a cast that includes Karina Dominguez (Enfrascada– Teatro Vivo, The Leftovers) as Gloria, Mical Trejo (Confessions of a Mexpatriate, Latino Comedy Project) and Giselle Marie Muñoz (Christmas Belles- City Theatre, 1 Minute Play Fest) as Guadalupe.  Set design by Payne and Critics’ Table award-winner, Ia Ensterä (Thr3e Zisters– Salvage Vanguard, The Aliens– Hyde Park), Lighting by Natalie George (Natalie George Prods, 2017 Critics pick Best Out There Designer-Producer, 11:11), Costumes by Pam Fletcher-Friday (Performance Park– The Vortex, Scriptworks 10-Minute Play Fest) and Sound design by Lowell Bartholomee (Critics’ Table award, Grounded– Street Corner Arts, The Effect– Cap T).