From left: Alexa Ponton, Rama Malinak, Marlis Argueta, Ricardo Hernández, Julian Cadena. Not pictured: Edgar Arce and Paul Loomis

Telash, Asheville's Spanish-language theatre company, will stage the original piece "Contamos todos" at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 1-2, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3, in UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union Grotto. The group is a collaboration between UNC Asheville and the local Latino community. The performance will be multilingual, weaving together vignettes showing many of the challenges that immigrants face in their adopted county. The event is free and open to the public, but a $5 donation is suggested. Ticket reservations are strongly advised.

"Contamos todos" is written and directed by Lule Rosenbaun, UNC Asheville foreign languages lecturer. Additional contributions to the script include interviews conducted by the local organizations Nuestro Centro, Together We Read, Emma Resource Center and El Centro Cumunitario. The show tackles a number of stereotypes that Latinos face, while also presenting some of the more humorous moments that arise from societal and language differences.

"Our intention is to stay away from a monolithic view of the Latino community and to explore some of the points of friction the interviewees brought up," Rosenbaun said. "With the current political and economic climate, the everyday tensions that come to surface due to language, background and legal status became even more salient. I believe that there is a pressing need to experience real stories, and what is happening in the community regarding those everyday tensions."

"Contamos todos" is Telash's sixth production and its first original work; previously, the company has presented works by renowned Latino and Spanish playwrights. In addition, Telash has taken their shows on the road to the University of Georgia and the University of Louisville.

Telash was founded in 2004 with the goal of uniting diverse communities throughout Western North Carolina through the exploration and presentation of theater arts in Spanish. The company is sponsored by UNC Asheville's Foreign Languages Department and the UNC Asheville student group HOLA (Hispanic Outreach for Learning Awareness). The 2009 production is co-sponsored by La Voz Independiente, a Western North Carolina Spanish-language newspaper.

For more information or to reserve a ticket, call Rosenbaun at 828/250-2388 or email telash@unca.edu. For more information about Telash and the production, go to www.telash.org.