Miami Light Project’s Here & Now: 2011 presents Si Vas a Sacar un Cuchillo, USAlo — If you are going to pull a knife, USAlo (USE it) — you’d better watch out because Carlos Caballero and Elizabeth Doud are not afraid to use it. In this work of theater about the petroleum industry, unemployment and mermaids, the dynamic duo of Caballero & Doud use rearranged texts of playwright Samuel Beckett as a foundation from which they piece together dramatic exchanges.

These exchanges touch on pessimism, hopelessness and absurd sea life, the work mines these themes in search of something upbeat to cling to: a magic solvent that will clean the ocean, the prospect of the perfect job that pays you to do what you love, or a piece of floating plastic garbage large enough to float on without drowning.

The section of the story presented here is centered on the dilemma of unemployment and loneliness shared by these two characters: An unemployed oil platform worker and an out of work Disney World character actress. Their alter-egos, a real mermaid and petroleum itself, make small talk over being jobless and watching the planet rot around them. The text is presented in both English and Spanish, and plays on the idea of bilingualism and the linguistic life of a city like Miami.

Carlos Caballero is a graduate of the Instituto Superior de Arte de la Habana and has worked as an actor in theater with Teatro el Publico and La Ventana in Cuba. Carlos has performed in over 20 plays including plays by Shakespeare, Garcia Lorca, Cocteau, among others, and toured his work to the leading festivals in Spain and Latin America. He received the Best New Actor award from New Times and El Nuevo Herald for his work with Grupo de Teatro la Mateodora in the play Cuentas Pendientes.

Elizabeth Doud is a performer, writer, graphics junkie, an independent artist and co-artistic director of the Miami-based Las Negras Theater Collective. She joined forces with Giovanni Luquini Performance Troupe, launching a 15-year performance and collaborative stint, creating, producing and touring over a dozen original performances nationally and abroad. She collaborated with long-time theater partner Jennylin Duany, on Cabaret Unkempt, which toured from 2006-2008.

Performance Information: Si vas a sacar un cuchillo, USAlo/If you’re going to pull a knife, USAlo, Friday, March 4, 7:00 p.m., Carnival Studio Theater;  Saturday, March 5, 1:00 p.m., Carnival Studio Theater. Tickets: free. For priority and guaranteed seating order your VIP WEEKEND PASS tickets at www.arshtcenter.org.