Sunrise is just starting to peak through the palm trees at Lincoln Park in East L.A. as a flatbed truck hauling a sky-blue shipping container pulls up at the edge of a dirt volleyball court. At 20 feet across and 8 feet tall, it’s the main set piece and stage for a play produced by the California Institute of the Arts called "Shelter."

“In a lot of ways, that shipping container is kind of an abstraction of a railroad car. But it's also this metaphor of a box where people are trapped, a box where people are kept and corralled, so it functions on a variety of levels,” says producer Mark Valdez.

The play, produced by the California Institute of the Arts, revolves around a band of teenage migrants as they make the journey north to the U.S. without parents or adult guardians.

“And it follows their journeys, from leaving their home countries, traveling through Mexico on ‘La Bestia’, the beast, which is what they call the train that crosses through the entirety of Mexico,” explains Valdez.

At an evening dress rehearsal earlier this week, young actors from CalArts run through the action under the watchful eye of veteran Mexico City-based stage director Martin Acosta.

“It’s actually my first experience outside, outdoors. I am learning,” laughs Acosta.

It’s a physical performance. Actors roll and tumble across the dust. They dance, sing, kick a soccer ball around and perch themselves atop that makeshift 8-foot train car.

“Actually, there is a train,” says Acosta, as a freighter rumbles along the Union Pacific rail line that runs by Lincoln Park’s southern tip. “It probably (will) come during the performance. I think it’s great.”

"Shelter" is being presented with no barriers between “the stage” and the day-day-day life of this largely Latino East L.A. neighborhood.

No tickets are required for the free performances. People can stay and watch the whole thing. Or just watch a few scenes as they pass through the park. During rehearsal, children on bicycles, joggers and dog walkers watch the drama unfold.

"Shelter’s" story is rooted in the mass migration of tens of thousands of young people who have crossed or tried crossing into the U.S. illegally over the last few years. The number of unaccompanied minors apprehended by U.S. authorities spiked in 2014, though thousands still risk the journey.

“In a way, they are looking for more than the American dream. They are looking for their families. And during the travel they are invisible because it's getting dangerous for them,” says Acosta

"Shelter" walks a fine line between drama and politics. In one scene three teenage girls confide their fears to one another while curled up on cots in a temporary federal holding facility.

“Has anyone, you know, hurt you?” asks one girl.

“No, not here, we’re safe here,” says another.

“How do you know that?” wonders another.

In another scene the same actors adopt the voices and actual words of real-life pundits, politicians and activists.

“This crisis is Obama-made,” exclaims one.

“They have heard from all their friends and relatives that if they get to the U.S. all will be taken care of,” says another.

“We call that section, people circling the crisis from above,” says "Shelter" playwright Marissa Chibas.

“There's no question that we are wanting to let these kids' voices be heard and their personal stories to be revealed. And those are the stories that we’re not hearing enough of,” says Chibas. “About just how dangerous it is back home for some of these kids.”

Chibas met and interviewed several young immigrants while writing the script. Many were fleeing poverty or murderous organized gangs. All are still living in the U.S., their immigration cases pending in federal court. Some of them also had a chance to meet and speak with the actors and check out a preview of "Shelter."

“I don't think I've ever been more nervous for anything in my life than the night they were watching,” laughs Chibas. “But they recognized themselves and one of the young woman said: 'I feel represented.'  And I felt like, OK, we’ve done our job.”

After its run of performances at L.A.’s Lincoln Park wraps up next weekend, producers hope to take the play on the road to other cities across the U.S.