Alex Alpharaoh was only 2-months old when he and his 15-year old mother were almost killed in a bomb blast at a bus stop in the violent streets of the infamous “Limonada” colony, in the slums of Guatemala City, Guatemala. This began their brutal journey to the United States.
Most of his life Alex was forced to live in the shadows of society and, through his perseverance and determination, went on to achieve a college degree and become a well-respected social worker in a specialized field, as well as a spoken word artist, well-trained actor, writer, director, and producer.
His story is about what it means to be an American in every sense of the word except for one: on paper. His play, WET: A DACAmented Journey, captures the desperation that DACA individuals feel when considering the very limited options of adjustment of status, by being forced to navigate through a broken U.S. Immigration System. The play examines the mental, emotional, and psychological hardship one man has to endure in order to secure his livelihood in the only home he has known: Los Angeles.
Since opening in the fall of 2017, WET: A DACAmented Journey received rave reviews, has been nominated for several awards, including Best Solo Performance of 2018 by The Los Angeles Critics Circle Award, which Alpharaoh won. WET has played in several stages including The Kennedy Center, New York’s Lincoln Center Education, The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, The Encuentro De Las Americas Latinx Festival at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and various universities throughout the country. WET also had an 8-city national tour.
Alex has been a speaker at The Ford Foundation, featured as a performing and teaching artist for Human Rights Watch Student Task Force, and was the recipient of Hi-Arts Artist in Residency in New York City.