The new work, chosen from the Huntington's Playwriting Fellows Program, will open at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion venue Oct. 13 for a run through Nov. 28. Huntington artistic director Nicholas Martin will direct.
Sonia Flew finds a Cuban mother of two living in Minneapolis who struggles to understand how her parents sent her away, unaccompanied, from the political turmoil of her homeland in the early 1960s. "What do you owe your children, your parents, your country?" is the question posed by Boston playwright and actress Lopez, according to materials.
The cast of Sonia Flew who will all double roles includes Carmen Roman (Angels in America national tour), Jeremiah Kissel (A Month in the Country - Huntington), Will LeBow (Nocturne - American Repertory Theatre), Amelia Alvarez (The Distance From Here), Zabryna Guevara (Breath, Boom - Huntington) and Ivan Quintanilla (Summerland).
The design team features Adam Stockhausen (scenic), Kristin Glans (costumes), Frances Aronson (lighting) and Drew Levy (sound).
Bedford, Massachusetts native Lopez is the daughter of two "continental" Cuban parents. "They went back and forth to Cuba, and in 1959 after Castro came to power, everyone was initially very excited, so happy. It was a time of huge promise and optimism," Lopez stated in a release. Spending time between their homeland and Colombia as her father — a University of Chicago alum with a Ph.D. in mathematics — worked on weather experiments, they decided to relocated to New England after a meeting with Cuban leaders. The scribe has earned Elliot Norton Awards for her plays God Smells Like a Roast Pig and Midnight Sandwich/Medianoche for Outstanding Solo Performance. Her other plays include The Order of Things, How Do You Spell Hope? and Scenes From A Bordello. The 1999 recipient of the Charlotte Woolard Award for "a promising new voice in the American theatre" has appeared as an performer in The Dying Gaul (SpeakEasy Stage Company), A Month in the Country and The Rose Tattoo (both Huntington productions).
Director Martin has staged for Broadway (Match, Hedda Gabler), Off-Broadway (Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Fully Committed, Betty's Summer Vacation) and his home venue (The Rose Tattoo with Andrea Martin, Butley with Nathan Lane). He has also staged works regionally in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and at The Old Globe Theatre and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Boston's Huntington is currently presenting the pre-Broadway run of Gem of the Ocean through Oct. 30. The remainder of the season includes Lanford Wilson's Burn This (Nov. 12-Dec. 12), Richard Sheridan's The Rivals (Jan. 7-Feb. 6, 2005), Christopher Trumbo's Trumbo starring Brian Dennehy (Feb. 8-27, 2005), Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views (March 11-April 10, 2005), Culture Clash's Culture Clash in AmeriCCa (March 18-May 8, 2005) and the William Finn James Lapine musical Falsettos (May 20-June 26, 2005).
The season at Huntington will perform at the company's long-time home at the Boston University Theatre and the company's new smaller space, the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the Theatre Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.
For tickets to Sonia Flew, call (617) 266 0800. For more information, visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.
