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When he was 3 months old, Alex Alpharaoh was taken on a life-changing journey from Guatemala to the United States. Thirty-six years later, he’s travelling around the country to share his story of being a Dreamer.

“I’ve been a writer my whole life, a poet since I was a child,” Alpharaoh says by phone from his Los Angeles home. “My roots are here. My family is here. My child is here.”

Alpharaoh is visiting Connecticut for a week with his timely theater piece, a one-man show titled “Wet: A DACAmented Journey,” which concerns U.S. immigration issues. The national tour stops at three different theater spaces in the Hartford area from Oct. 22 to 27.

What is the show about?

“If I had to tagline this show, I’d say it was the story of being an American in every sense of the word except on paper,” Alpharaoh says.

But, Alpharaoh says his show is “not a political piece in the way people might think.

“It’s not a soapbox where I get up and talk about how bad the administration is. I don’t need to do that. That’s not my bag. I’m an artist. The story is not born from the news events. The intention is to put a human face to this issue, create the need for conversation. It’s about love, unification, home, and where home is. It’s asking ‘How can constructive immigration reform happen?’

“You see some of my mother’s journey, my father’s journey. You meet my grandfather, my cousin… Even though everyone in my family is a naturalized citizen of the United States, I’m the only one that’s a DACA recipient.”

Who are the characters?

Alpharaoh plays multiple characters, including several members of his own family.

“There are three main characters,” he says. “There’s Alpharaoh, the poet, who’s omnipresent, all-knowing and all-seeing. There’s Alex, the narrator, who breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience. And there’s Anner, the character who’s living the story in real time. When we meet Anner as a child, we see the first inkling of what it means to be undocumented in this country. After some time, we see how the DACA program assists him.”

Alpharaoh acknowledges that the autobiographical tale he recounts in “Wet: A DACAmented Journey” is “not 100 percent accurate. It’s theater. I have to bend things so the structure can work.”

Alex Alpharaoh plays three characters in his show: Alpharaoh, the poet; Alex, the narrator;  and Anner, who's living the story in real time
Alex Alpharaoh plays three characters in his show: Alpharaoh, the poet; Alex, the narrator; and Anner, who’s living the story in real time

What is Alpharaoh’s status?

“In the simplest terms, I have permission to be in the country, but that permission can be revoked at any time. I’m as safe as safe can be, as far as being a DACA recipient goes. I have a work permit that expires in March, and I’ll be able to reapply. But the DACA program is currently gridlocked. There’s a stay on [dismantling] it, but we don’t really know what will happen. It puts me in legal limbo. It’s pretty dire. It’s scary.”

What are his credentials?

“Most of my plays have been dramas. I write about Los Angeles, nursing homes, the Catholic church. Living in Hollywood, you have to do multiple things well. I’m an actor/writer/director/producer.”

He’s actually selling himself short, as he’s also had a career as a social worker, is a teaching artist, and started his own spoken word performance series.

“People think of Hollywood as movies and TV, which it is, but it’s also a huge, vibrant theater community. I’m so proud to be a part of it. When I came home to Los Angeles after 10 years in Orange County, it was to pursue a career as an actor.”

“Wet: A DACAmented Journey” is the middle section of a projected trilogy. The first and third parts have not yet been completed. Alpharaoh also has several other projects in the works.

Alpharaoh wrote the first draft of “Wet” in early 2017, and was still revising it as recently as three weeks ago.

“The show that we originally toured in Los Angeles is very different than what we do now,” he says. “It’s grown incredibly.”

What is his endgame?

When asked if he engages in activism around immigration issues while touring his show, or if there have been awkward confrontations at performances, Alpharaoh answers directly.

“No. If I were to change the name from “A DACAmented Journey” to “An American Journey,” I don’t think those questions would even come up. I wrote this to be inclusive. I want people from both red and blue districts and states to enjoy it.

“If I do my job, the audience walks away with a different perspective. What I really touch upon is the human experience. The current administration, and immigration reform, is the backdrop to that.”

Where and when are the performances?

A free performance Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. at Hartford Public Library (preceded by refreshments and followed with a question-and-answer session).

On Oct. 23 at Hartbeat Ensemble’s Carriage House Theater (including a post-show public forum held by the group CT Students for a Dream; $15).

And on Oct. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of St. Joseph Autorino Center (the Oct. 26 performance is a “Pay It Forward” event (free, but donations accepted); and $15 and $22 on Oct. 27).

Where does the show go from here?

Following the Connecticut engagements, Alpharaoh will bring “Wet,” directed by Brisa Areli Muñoz, to a 600-seat theater in Dallas, then return to the East Coast to perform it for several weeks in Boston. In September, “Wet” was featured at the national Hip Hop Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.