Crawling With Monsters

Reality and theater make a powerful mix in "Crawling With Monsters," a documentary piece from a Texas-based ensemble called the Sleepy Border Town Insomniacs. The company is a group of students and their drama professor who attempted to bring a children's play called "Crawling With Monsters" to Mexican schools near the U.S. border. But their tour was canceled because of the unremitting violence caused by drug cartels. Instead, the group decided to emulate Moises Kaufman and Anna Deavere Smith and create a new work based on interviews with ordinary people living in these beset areas, concentrating on how the violence has affected their children.

Employing a laptop computer's projection system, live musical accompaniment, and powerful acting, the company straightforwardly conveys the horror of living in a criminal war zone. The most effective and terrifying moment is the most simple: a video of tiny children calmly going through a drill of getting under their desks when there is a shooting outside their school. The tragedy is that such horrifying acts are so commonplace that the kids have grown inured to them.

I can't list any of the commendable performers or the creative team, because the program doesn't list their names. For their safety and for the security of their families in Mexico, they all wish to remain anonymous.
 
Presented by the Sleepy Border Town Insomniacs as part of the New York International Fringe Festival at the Living Theatre, 21 Clinton St., NYC. Aug. 19–24. Remaining performances: Sat., Aug. 20, 6:45 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 21, 2:15 p.m.; Mon. Aug. 22, 5 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 24, 7:45 p.m. (866) 468-7619 or www.fringenyc.com.