LAS TREMENDAS AVENTURAS DE LA CAPITANA GAZPACHO por Gerardo Mancebo del Castillo, Proyecto Teatro at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, November 7 - 9, 2013

Las Tremendas Aventuras de la Capitana Gazpacho

A comedic drama performed in Spanish with English surtitles

November 8, 9 and 10

Friday - Saturday 8PM / Sunday - 4PM

Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center, 600 River Street - click for map

For reservations and ticket information call:

(512) 420-9078 or www.proyectoteatro.com

ProyectoTeatro presents their first main-stage production
Las Tremendas Aventuras de la Capitana Gazpacho (o de cómo los elefantes aprendieron a jugar a las canicas),
a comedic drama written by the Mexican dramaturg Gerardo Mancebo del Castillo
and directed by the company's artistic director, Luis Armando Ordaz Gutiérrez.

"Las Tremendas Aventuras de la Capitana Gazpacho" exposes the most common internal conflicts of human beings through absurdity that sadly-and why not, comically-are the driving forces of our very own realities.

Upcoming: Hagase la Mujer! (And God Created Woman!), Proyecto Teatro, Mexican-American Cultural Center, February 24 - March 5

Found on-line:

Proyecto Teatro Spanish-language theatre in Austin

presents

¡Hágase la Mujer!

(And God Created Woman!)

by Carlos Campos Sagaseta de Ilúrdoz (Koldo)

February 24 - March 5

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center

600 River Street (click for map)

Tickets $12 general admission, $10 for seniors and students, Sundays pay what you can

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Abuelita de Batman by Alejandro Licona, Proyecto Teatro at Boyd Vance Theatre, January 15 - 24

No, you probably have not heard of Proyecto Teatro, even though the group has been staging theatre and running classes in Austin since 2004. They're the only 100% Spanish language theatre in town.

Artistic director Luis Ordaz, a multi-talented wild man, both directs Abuelita de Batman ("Batman's Granny")and appears in one of the five short pieces. This piece was written in the 1980's by the highly prolific and successful Mexican playwright and screen writer Alejandro Licano.

Taking half a leaf from Austin's bilingual Teatro Vivo, this time the company provides English-language translations of the dialogue, projected on the cyclorama behind the actors on the cyclorama. They do the same on their YouTube trailers, embedded below.

Anglos without much exposure to Latino theatre and television may well be mystified by these pieces. Imagine, say, something along the lines of I Love Lucy with a very broad acting style, girly women and macho men, but written with an emphasis on sex and infidelity. Naughty in the way that Feydeau farces are naughty, with a broad satiric wink and the implication that the wicked generate their own punishment.

In 1980s Mexico this was scandalous material. In his recent posting on tripvine.com, Rob Faubion says that several Mexican municipalities banned the production.

Faubion calls Proyecto Teatro a "new theater troupe" -- an understandable mistake. Although the group has left a couple of neglected websites on-line and offers several interesting videos on YouTube, they have devoted their energy principally to their principal clientele, Austin's extensive Spanish-speaking population. They appear to be succeeding -- the Boyd Vance Theatre at the Carver Center hosted a good turnout last Saturday evening.

Read more and see promotional videos at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Abuelita de Batman in Spanish with English sur-titles, Proyecto Teatro at Boyd Vance Theatre, January 15 - 24

UPDATE: Review by ALT, January 18

Found on-line:




Austin's Spanish-language acting company
presents

Abuelita de Batman
(Batman's Granny)

at the Boyd Vance Theatre, George Washington Carver Center, 1165 Angelina St.
Full map and directions
January 15-January 24 (Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m, Sundays at 2 p.m.)
Tickets: $10.00 - $12.00

***This theatre showcase will have English sur-titles as seen in the opera!***

Abuelita de Batman is a dark-humored contemporary play comprised of five stories, each about one couple, that highlight the different dynamics of interpersonal relationships while exposing issues we often try to cover but cannot hide. Although four out of the five stories involve couples and cynical relationships, love comes in at the very end of this production.

Audience members will get to peek into the lives of a cheating politician, a scorned fugitive, a cynical doctor, an AIDS-infected transvestite, and a high-class open marriage. The situations presented might be hard to grasp at first due to their resemblance to actuality and the truth that can be found within the lines, but as a result, Proyecto Teatro's Abuelita de Batman ends up being a clear satire of our present society.

El Cielo Nuestro. . . Que Se Va A Caer, Proyecto Teatro at Dougherty Arts Center, August 28 - September 6

Proyecto Teatro's imaginative production telling of an environmentally "Chicken Little"-type story is a delight. It runs again this weekend at the Dougherty Arts Center.

The clever costumes alone are worth the modest price of admission to this all-Spanish-language frolic, where adults pay $8 and children only $2. Director Luis Ordaz and actor Guicha Gutiérrez have a wild sense of shape, color and transformation that the images here can suggest only approximately.

The company's physical language in creating these characters, mostly birds, is remarkable. Preening, puffing, quivering and sailing across the stage, they create a play that approaches the status of a talking ballet.

The glimmering, glistening, be-winged and emphatically well-spoken Hada (Fairy) played by Wendy Espinosa welcomes the audience, coaches the children and comments on the action throughout. As in the familiar fairy tale we meet a progressive accumulation of barnyard and woodland creatures with whimsically rhyming names, beginning with Pollito Fito (the chick, played by Jesús Garcia).

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: El Cielo Se Va A Caer, Proyecto Teatro at Dougherty Arts Center, August 28 - September 6

Found at NowPlayingAustin.com:

ProyectoTeatro,
Austin's only all-Spanish theatre company,
presents the children's fable

El Cielo Nuestro Que Se Va A Caer!

Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
August 28-September 6, 2009

Dougherty Arts Center
1110 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX 78704

ProyectoTeatro, the only all Spanish language theatre company in Austin, is proud to present “El Cielo Nuestro…Que Se Va a Caer!”, a modern version of the popular fable “The Sky is Falling” but with a twist; in this version, the sky just might actually come down!

It depicts how a charismatic young chicken by the name of Pollito Fito, (Jesus Garcia) is surprised one day when something falls from the sky and hits her on the head. With his innocence on hand, Pollito Fito realizes that a piece of the sky has fallen and runs to alert his fellow animals of his grave discovery. After various mishaps and a little detective work, our little animal friends assume that the sky is falling due to the foul, polluting factories of an evil turkey, Pavo Centavo (Jorge Gonzalez). Pollito Fito and his friends must race against the clock to save the sky but are faced with an obstacle; a traitor is in the midst.

Tickets: $2-8 dollars.
Fridays-8:00 PM
Saturdays and Sundays- 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Info Phone: (512) 524-8555