Against all odds, the Miami International Hispanic Theater Festival will draw the curtain on its thirty-third edition from July 12 to 29.
The event is presented by the Avante Theater, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (AACPA) and the Miami-Dade County Auditorium (MDCA), which over two weeks will present nine shows from Argentina, Spain, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Mexico and the United States. The works will be performed in Spanish and some will have English supertitles.
“Artistically there are no differences between this festival and the previous ones. As always, we have tried to invite the best harvest from Latin America and Spain, in addition to the three local companies that will accompany us this year: Adriana Barraza Veritatem Theater & Nobarte, Teatro Doble, for the celebration of International Children’s Day, and Teatro Avante, “said Marío Ernesto Sánchez, founder and director of the event, after highlighting that on this occasion a special recognition will be paid to Puerto Rico “for everything it has suffered since Hurricane Maria.”
The inaugural function corresponds to the Tojunto Company, which brings from Puerto Rico Hij@s de la Bernarda, a free version of La casa de Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca, written and directed by Rosa Luisa Márquez, who will receive the Award for A Life of Dedication to the Performing Arts, for her career inside and outside the Island.
Márquez is part of the project Green Light Eventthat defends the right to free expression of art anywhere.
The montage combines theater, flamenco and contemporary dance to tell the story of a widow who decrees mourning for her five daughters in an atmosphere of repression (12, 13, 14, 8:30 p.m. and 15, 5 p.m. in the Carnival Studio Theater of the Adrienne Arsht Center).
The festival poster was designed by Puerto Rican artist and communicator Antonio Martorell.
The Educational Program, under the direction of researcher Beatriz J. Rizk, includes theater workshops and colloquiums after each premiere.
The festival will present works from six countries
by Teatro Hispano de Miami
That same weekend will be released The Last Happiness, collective creation of Teatro Avante under the direction of Neher Jacqueline Briceño. The plot describes the quarrels and absurd situations that occur within a dysfunctional family (13 and 14 and 15, 6:30 p.m. 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and 15, 3 p.m. 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., Miami-Dade County Auditorium). Spanish production will also be presented #malditos16, a reflection on the past brought by COART+E and the National Drama Center. It is written and directed by Nando López and Quino Falero, respectively (13 and 14, 8:30 p.m., and 15, 5 p.m. MDCA’s On.Stage Black Box).
“We select works that enlighten us, that show current conflicts and that at the same time excite us to such a level that we leave the theater discussing what we saw, instead of thinking about where we will go to dinner,” said Mario Ernesto, who carries out his crusade with the enthusiasm of always, despite the fact that “this year the legislators of the State of the Florida decided to reduce support for the arts from $24,593,321 in the 2017-18 fiscal year to $2.65 million for the 2018-19 fiscal year.”
The following week Neher Jaqueline Briceño returns to the charge with There were four of us, a text of his vintage on the relationships between two marriages of actors presented by Adriana Barraza Veritatem Theater and Nobarte (18, 19 and 20, 8:30 p.m, Adriana Barraza Black Box. The play will continue in theaters in the same room on Fridays and Saturdays from July 25 to August 8).
Teatro del Basto arrives from Argentina with About two, about the aftermath of the past in a couple who broke their ties. The assembly of Carolina Tejeda and José Mehrez will occupy the On.Stage Black Box of the MDCA on 19, 20 and 21, 8: 30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Uruguayan representation will present The Incapable, a story set in the nineteenth century about a woman who faced a trial that turned out to be a mockery, directed by Cecilia Baranda. (20, 21, 8:30 p.m. and 22, 5 p.m.Carnival Studio Theater, AACPA).
For International Children’s Day, the festival prepared a free program with crafts, music workshops, painting and the presentation of The Cat and the Seagull, adapted and directed by Neher Jaqueline Briceño, based on the novel The Story of a Seagull and the Cat That Taught Him to Fly, by Luis Sepulveda (22, 2 p.m. MDCA’s On.Stage Black Box Theatre).
The International Children’s Day poster was designed by 11-year-old Jennifer, a patient at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
33rd Miami International Hispanic Theatre Festival
The festival will present works from six countries
by Miami International Hispanic Theater Festival Goes Ahead Despite Lack of Money
For its latest performances, the festival reserves the world premiere of En nada lugar del mundo, a drama by Abel González Melo. The production of Teatro Avante, under the direction of Mario Ernesto Sánchez, questions to what extent the visible borders of a country define the concept of homeland. (26, 27, 28, 8:30 p.m. and 29, 5 p.m. Carnival Studio Theater, AACPA).
For its part, the Mexican group Los Tristes Tigres will present Wenses and Lala, on the search for love and loyalty (27 and 28, 8:30 p.m. and 29, 5 p.m. MDCA’s On.Stage Black Box Theatre at MDCA)
“We have tried to have Miami a Hispanic theater festival since 1986, “against all odds.” We are proud that we have always been able to offer our audiences the best of Hispanic theater from Latin America, Spain and other non-Hispanic countries that have decided to perform here,” concluded Mario Ernesto.