Search

For most of us, we rarely give much thought to the things we throw away after we’ve tossed them. We rarely give a second thought to where it goes or ends up after it’s picked up by sanitation workers each week.

But for a community living in Asunción, Paraguay they haven’t had that luxury. With a landfill nearby, they were faced every day with what happens to the things we obliviously throw away. And as a result, they began to see value in the discarded. They, for all intents and purposes, understand the old saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Their story is at the core of the Alliance Theatre’s world premiere musical Basura.

According to book writer Karen Zacarías, Basura is inspired by the kids of Asunción and the 2015 documentary Landfill Harmonic. The documentary focuses on the kids of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, the orchestra made up of the children of Asunción who perform using instruments constructed from the scraps of the Cateura landfill.

“What I love about this show and story is that throughout my entire career I’ve worked on social justice issues and especially with young people. I feel like this production brings together my love of theater, my love for young people, and my love of how theater helps make a change in the world,” said Zacarías.

In 2022, she had the privilege of visiting Asunción and spending time with the new generation of artists in the orchestra. The purpose of the trip wasn’t to just learn more about their story for the book, but to get a sense of their aura. She’d already met a few of them via Zoom. She instantly fell in love with the kids, the community, and their story.

“What we didn’t want is for people to come to the theater and just say, ‘Oh, look how resilient those poor kids are. Good for them,’ ” she said. “We want people to understand – these children living in a landfill are dealing with our garbage. And to think about the metaphor: what we as individuals throw away and who we throw away. And how can we transform the garbage in our lives into something beautiful and positive.”

For Gloria Estefan, the story of Basura and the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura is a powerful one. She and her daughter Emily wrote the lyrics, music, and additional arrangements for the musical.

“It’s multi-layered because it’s not just the literal trash that we deal with throughout our lives all over the planet,” she said. “But also, the emotional baggage of garbage that we carry; the difficulties in life, no matter who you may be. The most incredible or to me, one of the most impactful things about the story in Basura, is that after they were able to travel and perform all over the world, to the Pope, for Queen Sofia of Spain with Metallica, the kids in the orchestra went back home and they transformed their communities.”

According to Zacarías, one of the biggest questions that keeps coming up is why the kids and their families didn’t just move away. First, she said there are economic implications.

“But, also, it’s like asking us, ‘Why don’t we move away from our planet?’ If we just can leave and move somewhere else, then we never deal with our garbage. At some point, we all have to learn how to make our homes better,” she said. “The idea of running away isn’t an option. And, in fact, the more privilege we have, the more we run away and the more removed we are. Someone comes and picks up our trash and takes it far away, and we don’t have to deal with it.”

Basura deals with all of that.

“The philosophy of the orchestra is that the world gives us garbage, and we give back music,” she adds. “It’s also an amazing testament of what the power of the arts does, to make you feel connected; to make you feel whole and how important the arts are for every human being. It’s important to have access to something that makes you feel alive; to something that gives you soul. I feel very lucky that this story landed on my lap.”

Not only that, but also the importance of playing your part.

“What’s interesting about an orchestra is you can have your personal relationship with your instrument, but when you’re playing shoulder-to-shoulder with other people, your part matters. If you don’t show up, the orchestra’s not as good. It’s not only about your personal development, but your personal responsibility. This idea that you’re stronger together,” she adds. “That you owe it to yourself, your friends, your colleagues, your co-artists to show up.”

We all have our part to play. It’s a message Zacarías believes resonates with Atlanta audiences.

“Youth, music, and the commitment to building dreams are very big parts of the DNA of Atlanta,” she believes. “BASURA will speak the language of Atlanta.”

Performances of BASURA run on The Coca-Cola Stage May 30 through July 12, 2025 – learn more.