Chicano comedy troupe Culture Clash kicks off South Coast Repertory 's (SCR) "Festival Latino" with their show Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami, fresh from a sold-out run in New York, July 18-21.
"Festival Latino" is an annual three weekend celebration of Hispanic theatre, also including Una Noche del Teatro: Arbol de la Vida a variety show, and The Hispanic Playwrights Project , producing professional readings of plays by the three Latino playwrights who won the SCR annual contest.
Culture Clash consists of Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza, who have written and performed their comedy in other theatre pieces, film appearances and on their own FOX-TV series. Radio Mambo is based on 75 live interviews with residents of Miami, caricatures neatly woven together to form a portrait of the city's multi-cultural community.
Five performances of Culture Clash occur July 18-21.
"The great benefit of Una Noche del Teatro is that our community comes together in an air of positivism and purpose, experiences great artists, and leaves behind funding that will have an impact in our neighborhood, children and national playwrights," says SCR Trustee, Dr. Pablo Prietto, chairman of the annual event Una Noche del Teatro, a performance and party consisting of comedy, music, theatre and dance. This year's title Arbol de la Vida, The Tree of Life, encompasses the theme of family, and its power to transcend the barriers of age and difference that threaten to separate people.
The Honorary Chairman of the July 27 event is playwright/director Luis Valdez. It is hosted by husband and wife actors Ada Maris (NBC's "Nurses"), and Tony Plana (Several films, SCR's Rum and Coke). All funds raised from the event will benefit SCR's Hispanic Playwright Project and Neighborhood Conservatory, a program of free afterschool theatre for at risk youth.
The Festival concludes with the 11th Annual Hispanic Playwright's Project, in which three contest winning plays are workshopped for three weeks. Winning playwrights Anne Garcia-Romero and Rogelio Martinez from New York City, and Edit Villarreal from Los Angeles, will each work with Hispanic directors, dramaturgs and actors to develop fully staged public readings.
Adrift by Martinez will be read on August 2, and Santa Concepcionby Garcia-Romero and Tracks by Villarreal on August 3.
For more information and tickets to Radio Mambo (July 18-21 or any of the Hispanic Playwrights Project readings (Aug. 2-3) call (714) 957-4033. For tickets to Una Noche del Teatro, call (714) 957-2602.
