Rude Mechanicals, along with Women & their Work, is presenting a New Jersey performance artist with Austin roots.

Greek-American performance artist Angela Kariotis created a one-woman-show, "Reminiscence of the Ghetto and Other Things that Raized Me."

Kariotis is familiar with the word "ghetto," it's in the title of her show and serves as her motivation to negate stereotypes.

"It forces people to sort of reevaluate their value system that we have in judging certain geographical locations and places, and how certain terms affect people who actually live in those places," she said.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Kariotis was a graduate student in UT's performance arts program. She's shared bits and pieces of her show at Frontera Fest and the New Works Festival, but this is the first time it's been produced for the stage.

"It's smart. It makes you think about race and ethnicity. So, it's challenging, it's interesting, it's vibrant...she just really brings her whole self to the stage," Madge Darlington of Rude Mechanicals said.

"Reminiscence" is also a part of the National Performance Network, a group of more than 50 organizations around the country that fosters touring artists.

"They bring artists for extended periods of time, not just a one-night stand, but for like a week...they'll have actual interplay with the city...to meet people, to have exchange and have a deeper impact," Chris Cowden of Women & Their Work Gallery said.

Kariotis wants to have a deeper impact...her combination of prose, poetry and dramatic literature is intended to be entertaining and thought-provoking.

"I wanna' let people off the hook 'cause we all have anxiety about economic status, about race, about culture, about identity, about how we formulate identity, how we are sort of...to take the front off that we don't really have it all together...and that's cool and that's fine," Kariotis said.

The 90-minute show is jam-packed with laughter, sadness and realization. Kariotis calls it an endurance test that Gatorade should sponsor, but said she'll happily take the sponsors she has.