Hard Dinero
Hard Dinero. A bilingual play that tells stories of immigrant and migrant community members.
Just imagine a day without day laborers” – the old trope just won’t go away, how could it, our economy, and way-of-life, rests on the backs of undocumented and migrant workers who toil to keep our lawns trim and our tables full – people who do a million invisible jobs that need doing, all without the basic safety nets many of us take for granted.
Over the course of several months writer David Gonzalez collected stories from Spanish-speaking immigrants and migrant workers that illuminate the struggles they must overcome, as well as the dreams that sustain them. Hard Dinero, a play on the Spanish word jardinero which means gardener, presents an array of monologues, music, video, poetry, and sound design that evokes the experience of a vital, but often overlooked, part of our American community.
David Gonzalez, of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, is a local writer, poet, storyteller, musician, and arts advocate who has completed numerous community outreach projects with marginalized communities throughout the country. He has received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council of the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, and many others. David was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Arts Award, a Drama Desk Nomination is a Fellow of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, and received his doctorate from New York University’s School of Education.
