I come from the trash dumps of Honduras, the football fields of Mexico, the genocide in Guatemala, a first-grade classroom in Bogotá. I come from riding the tops of freight trains across la bestia, arriving at O'Hare airport in my mother's arms, hiding beneath clothes in a pickup truck headed for Los Angeles. I come from farming, from shoemaking, from scavenging. From busing tables and going to school. From construction, demolition, painting, gardening. I come from waiting for work at La Parada and waiting for the law to change. I come from my long-distance love for the family I left behind, my devotion to the family that came with me, my dreams for the family I created here. I come from being a citizen, refugee, resident, alien-I come from being American. Aqui Estoy. I am here. In Chicago, in Albany Park, on the stage, in the audience.
Aqui Estoy.

Named one of the best shows of 2007 by the Chicago Sun-Times, Aquí Estoy is composed of two provocative theater pieces based on months of interviews conducted by APTP youth ensemble members about the lives of undocumented immigrants in Chicago. "Amor de Lejos" chronicles the tough lives of day laborers from Central America and Mexico. "Nine Digits" is the moving story of a Chicago teen who has been an undocumented immigrant since his parents brought him to the United States from Colombia when he was age six. With astonishing originality, Aquí Estoy humanizes the often corrupt and mean-spirited rhetoric of the national immigration debate.

Play Focuses on Life of Undocumented Workers Chicago Public Radio The struggles of undocumented immigrants take center stage in a revival of a play based in Chicago's Northwest Side....Chicago Public Radio's Lynette Kalsnes has this report. Listen...

Aqui Estoy: True Life on Stage Extra: Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper Representing at least five different nationalities from Cuban to Kyrgyzstani, the young actors of Albany Park Theater Project eloquently narrate the realities of undocumented Latin American immigrants. More...

Opening Night Review: Looking at the perils of the promised land Chicago Sun-times In an ideal world, the Albany Park Theater Project production of "Aqui Estoy" (Spanish for "I Am Here") would be performed before a full session of the U.S. Congress. More...

Aqui Estoy Production Photo Gallery - 2007 View photos from APTP's production of Aqui Estoy in 2007.

Teaser Trailer

Crossing La Bestia

A Dream Deferred

J. Wilbur Worker

Ethnography Every original performance created by APTP is based on real-life stories that ensemble members collect from people living in our neighborhood or in other immigrant, working-class communities like ours. Read an excerpt from the interviews APTP conducted with jornaleros, or day laborers, to create Amor de Lejos.

Aqui Estoy Resources Where to look on line for information about day labor and humane immigration reform.

Talk Back Have you seen Aqui Estoy? Please share your reflections with us on the stories, the performances, the issues.