Now in their fifth year, Raíces Theatre Company has found the sweet spot where resources and mission match the founders' original vision.
Raíces Theatre Company's 2nd annual production of DESDE EL PUENTE ("From the Bridge") is a series of ten, short, one-act plays under ten minutes each, which offer stories that are culturally specific and relevant to the Latinx culture. (Latinx is simply the gender neutral form of Latino or Latina.) Founder and Artistic Director Victoria Pérez told WBFO: “It brings us great pride, the fact that they were all written by us, they were all workshopped by us, they're all culturally specific having to do with the Latinx experience." And she went on to say that "it's truly ensemble work, which is a dream come true, because that's what we wanted to do from the beginning and with this version of DESDE EL PUENTE we're actually doing it."
With language ranging from mostly English with light "Spanglish" up to full Spanish dialogue, Pérez is confident that the acting will convey the stories even if the audience isn't bilingual. "We really try to use the power of theater to convey the message." By the way, the name DESDE EL PUENTE is an homage to Pérez's late father Rafael Pérez who wrote a weekly radionovela (radio soap opera) of that name which used to air on WHLD in Niagara Falls.
DESDE EL PUENTE will open on Friday, May 26th and run for three weekends until Sunday, June 11th. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8:00 p.m. while Sunday shows are at 6:00. There will also be Pay-What-You-Can performances on two Thursdays, June 1st and June 8th at 7:30 p.m., followed by a talkback with the ensemble. Performances take place at the Manny Fried Playhouse, 255 Great Arrow Avenue, on the third floor. DESDE EL PUENTE stars Raíces Theatre Company members Alejandro Gómez, Rolando Martín Gómez, Smirna Mercedes-Pérez, Dewel Pérez, Maria Pérez-Gómez, Marta Aracelis and Steve Brachmann. Most of these ensemble members, as well as Raíces’ Artistic Director Victoria Pérez, will also serve as directors for the series of one-acts. General admission tickets are $20 each while student tickets are $15 each. Tickets can be reserved by calling 716-381-9333 or visiting https://raicestheatrecompany.com/
