UNPACKING HOME to be Presented at Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival

Collaboraction Theatre Company will host a limited run of Unpacking Home by Chicago’s Raices to Roots as part of the 9th Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, September 18-27 at Collaboraction’s House of Belonging in Humboldt Park, Chicago’s live theater space for social change. 

Set against the cultural landscape of Chicago’s Puerto Rican diaspora, Unpacking Home is a multidisciplinary performance weaving dance, poetry, and music to explore a question that is both deeply personal and universally resonant: What does it mean to come home?

Performances are September 18-27: Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, September 20 at 3 p.m.; Thursday, September 24 at 8 p.m.; No show Friday, September 25; Saturday, September 26 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 27 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25-$35. Collaboraction is located at the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Avenue, in Humboldt Park. For tickets and information, visit collaboraction.org.

Collaboraction’s new House of Belonging is a sleek, 4,000-square foot space featuring a new 99-seat flexible studio theater and a 50-seat cabaret with cafe/bar. Free and nearby street parking is available. For CTA riders, the 82 Kimball-Homan bus stops right in front of the building. The theater is also a short walk from the Kimball stop on the 72 North and 73 Armitage bus lines. For bikers and pedestrians, the Kimball trailhead on The 606 leads directly to the Kimball Arts Center. 

About Unpacking Home

Unpacking Home follows The Poet, a character in search of home, who receives a suitcase from their ancestors filled with items that unlock memories and guide their journey through the Chicago Puerto Rican experience. Dancers embody these memories—giving form to identity, love, struggle, and resilience. From Abuela’s kitchen to snowy streets and the domino table, each vignette reveals a layer of belonging. The performance culminates in an invitation for the audience to reflect and share, completing the search for home as a collective act of remembrance.

Unpacking Home features María Luisa Torres as principal Spirit Dancer, Luis Tubens as The Poet, and Alyssa Harlston, Mala Mia and Eddie Andino Jr. as Spirit Dancers. Musicians are led by Peter Vale on congas, Brenden Cabrera on piano, and Jacob Delgado on flute and sax. Sandra Delgado directs.

Raíces to Roots: “From our raíces in Puerto Rico to our roots in Chicago”

Raíces to Roots is a Chicago-born performance collective who celebrate and explore the Puerto Rican diaspora. Movement and poetry are woven with a musical thread for audiences to fully feel the stories of Puerto Ricans in Chicago. Founder Maria Luisa Torres is our principal dancer and choreographer, spoken word artist Luis Tubens a.k.a Logan Lu, interprets movement through lyrics and voice, and musical director Peter Vale provides the soundtrack rooted in Latin American music. For more, visit instagram.com/raicestoroots. 

As part of the 9th Annual Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, Unpacking Home joins artists from across Chicago and beyond this fall in celebrating the breadth of Latino theater and performance. For Raíces to Roots, this moment is an opportunity to place Chicago Puerto Rican stories firmly within the larger Latino theatrical landscape while honoring the community and cultural traditions that continue to shape them. 

Collaboraction’s You Belong Here series

Unpacking Home is presented as part of Collaboraction’s You Belong Here series which provides a home for independent artists and groups at any stage in their career, with an emphasis on those who live in proximity to the Kimball Arts Center in Humboldt Park. Curated by company member Sandra Delgado, You Belong Here takes the barriers out of self-producing by providing free space and equipment, stage management, marketing and PR support and a generous door split model. To learn more or submit a performance proposal, visit collaboraction.org/you-belong-here.