This spring, The Sol Project—the new New York-based theatre collective dedicated to raising the visibility of Latino and Latina playwrights—will stage its second production Off-Broadway: Martin Zimmerman’s Seven Spots on the Sun, directed by Weyni Mengesha. The playwright was inspired to write the play following a 2007 trip to Argentina, where he interviewed family members of people who disappeared under the junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.
Seven Spots on the Sun will be staged at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater April 26-June 4, and will be co-produced with the Off-Broadway theatre. Casting will be announced at a later date.
The Sol Project, founded by artistic director Jacob G. Padrón, has committed to developing and producing 12 works by emerging and established Latinx writers. The initiative was launched in May last year, and staged its first production, Hilary Bettis’ Alligator, in partnership with New Georges in November 2016.
READ MORE: 12 THEATRES JOIN NEW INITIATIVE FOR LATINA AND LATINO WRITERS
The project is dedicated not only to engaging writers, but also directors and designers from the Latina/Latino community. Once each work receives a premiere in New York, regional partners will commit to subsequent productions. Dallas’ Cara Mía Theatre and the Bay Area’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre are the first two regional partners that have committed to productions of a Sol Project playwright.
“Being involved with The Sol Project is a breath of fresh air, especially because of its regional theatre initiative,“ playwright Zimmerman commented in a press statement. “It frees the NYC production of the burden of having to be what launches the play, and instead allows us to craft the most captivating, thought-provoking theatrical experience we can. It allows the decisions we make in rehearsal to be about the art. All of which allows us to be more present to each other as collaborators, and to our impulses as artists. This helps craft a more cohesive ensemble, and a more coherent, compelling theatrical world onstage.”
Here’s how Rattlestick and the Sol Project outline Seven Spots on the Sun: ”The village of San Isidro has been without its doctor, Moisés, for 18 months. A recluse, he has refused to look at any patients since the army took his wife away during the country’s civil war. When a mysterious plague ravages the countryside, the local parish priest convinces Moisés to act. Upon examining his first patient, Moises discovers he has the miraculous power to heal the plague with the touch of his hand. As thousands of pilgrims flock to him, Moisés is forced to confront his past, and the violence that tore San Isidro apart.”
Visit solproject.org/ for more information on the initiative.
