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Doubt (La Duda)
By John Patrick Shanley
Adapted and directed by Matilda Corral
Produced by I.E. Productions C.A., from Venezuela for Teatro De La Luna’s Eleventh International Festival of Hispanic Theater
Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

What universalizes John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (La Duda), about a priest suspected of pedophilia, are the adaptations director Matilda Corral makes. We are in a Catholic school in Venezuela instead of an Irish-Italian school in Northeastern United States. But the explosive issues and controversy are the same. (more…)

Meat Prices Rising (Subió la Carne)
By Argento, Pazos, Pesqueira
Directed by Carlo Argento
Produced by Teatro de la Luna
Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

Meat Prices Rising (Subió la Carne) has an enticing, juicy title. This loosely constructed cabaret act seems to be saying: okay, the economy is shot to hell, so let’s make fun of everything sacred. And that’s exactly what two tremendously talented Argentine actors, Claudio Pazos and Francisco Pesqueira, and their director, Carlo Argento, do as they impersonate a multitude of characters, sing with operatic voices at highpoint moments, and make us laugh at such fears as a failing economy or runaway inflation. (Argentina is well-known for government debt and inflations that resulted in 2001 food riots.) (more…)

The Hand (La Mano)
by playwright German Madrid
directed by Antonia Castillo
produced by Carro de Baco, Barcelona, Spain, and Teatro De La Luna
reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

The Hand (La Mano), by German Madrid, Spain’s gift to Teatro de la Luna’s Eleventh International Festival of Hispanic Theater is a mordantly witty puzzler, the kind of breathtaking one-act that’s simply ingenious. (more…)

Huggings (La Importancia del Abrazo)
written, directed and performed by Pilar Nuñez and Jaime Lema
produced by Teatro de la Luna
reviewed by Rosalind Lacy   

The raw intensity of this opener for Teatro De La Luna’s Eleventh International Festival of Hispanic Theater comes straight at you from the cobbled streets and heartland of Peru, from effervescent fringe festivals and breaks beautifully with traditional theater. (more…)

Volvió una Noche, She Returned One Night

• by Eduardo Rovner
• Directed by Mario Marcel                                     
• Produced by Teatro de la Luna
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy   

One reason I love to see plays at Washington D.C.’s Hispanic theaters is that I emerge renewed, as if I’ve traveled through a parallel universe.  Meet Eduardo Rovner, a multi-prize-winning Argentine playwright, whose 35 plays have been translated into many languages and produced internationally.  Thanks to Teatro de la Luna’s artistic director Mario Marcel we can experience the delicate balance between the real and the magical world of one of Rovner’s wonderful farces. Marcel’s passion for drawing out the best in his inspired and gifted performers has more than succeeded in bringing this comedy about a mother-son relationship to life.  She Returned One Night is so believable you’ll laugh your heart out and be filled with wonder.  (more…)

• Frida Kahlo, the Passion
• By Ricardo Halac
• Directed by Mario Marcel
• Produced by Teatro de La Luna
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

Reproductions of some of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s most famous paintings dangle from the ceiling in the lobby of the Gunston Arts Center. Her self-portraits are memorable-the  unplucked eyebrows that meet in a unibrow over piercing eyes of frozen fire.  (more…)

• Women of 50 (Mujeres de 50)
• By Daniela Di Segni and Hilda Levy
• Directed by Liliana Pecora
• Produced by Teatro De La Luna -  International Hispanic Festival
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

Argentine actress Liliana Pecora is the Sarah Bernhardt of comic actresses. Pecora doesn’t speak English at all, she told us on opening night. That’s like Bernhardt who never spoke or understood English and was featured as the leading character in last week’s play. Also as versatile as Bernhardt, Pecora brought a full-house to its feet for her depiction of eight female characters. (more…)

• Oh, Sarah!
• By Ariel Mastandrea
• Directed by Bernardo Galli
• Presented by Teatro de Uruguay
• Produced by Teatro De La Luna International Hispanic Festival
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

 What better way to transcend language barriers than to present a one-woman play about Sarah Bernhardt.  This famous 19^th century actress never spoke or reportedly never understood a word of English but did ten extensive tours in America and charmed audiences with her stage presence and sheer acting power. (more…)

• From Banishment to Meeting with the Soul, a Pilgrimage on Earth, (Del destierro, al encuentro con el alma, el peregrinaje por la tierra, y)
• A Group Creation from Venezuela’s Altosf Theatre
• Directed by Juan Carlos De Petre
• Produced as part of the Teatro De La Luna International Hispanic Festival
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

(more…)

By Carlos Pais

Produced by Teatro de la Luna

Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

Comedy doesn’t flow easily from Latin American playwrights’ pens, according to Teatro de la Luna’s Artistic Director Mario Marcel, because of the past 25 years of political oppression,. But judging from the world premiere of Argentine playwright Carlos Pais’ satire Love in the Open Air (Amor al Aire Libre) now playing at Gunston Theatre Two, the Comic Muse is alive and functioning as a healing force.   (more…)