Lark Play Development Center

U.S. / México
Playwright Exchange Program
November 10 - 20

THE WORD EXCHANGE is a 10-day residency
and theatrical dialogue between 4 Mexican
playwrights, 4 U.S. playwrights, and the Lark
community. Through the translation of new
Mexican plays, the development of these plays with established U.S. artists, and New York cultural
exploration, the program establishes ongoing
channels of communication and collaboration
between artists in the U.S. and México. Coordinated by Artistic Advisor, Andrea Thome.

To read more about the writers,
click here!

......... presented in partnership with
...

Featuring:

Saturday, November 17 @ 4pm

THE SADNESS
OF THE LIMES
(La Tristeza de los Cítricos)
by Verónica Bujeiro
translated by Andy Bragen
directed by Alex Correia

When your life is to tell jokes, what is so funny about life? When your mission in the world has ended, are you waiting for a miracle? When you cut onions to cry, who are you cooking for? When your legs are gone and they steal your job, are there ways to keep on going? This is the story of Rito Alberca.

Sunday, November 18 @ 4pm

VAN GOGH IN NEW YORK
(Van Gogh en Nueva York)
by Jorge Celaya
translated by Migdalia Cruz
directed by Debbie Saivetz

Vicente, a painter from the Sonoran desert of Mexico, unravels on the streets of New York City, where his dark obsessions lead him on a poetic journey— through blood, spit, teeth, and jazz—to the other Vincent. A soul's empty canvas is splattered with despair as one life imitates another's passionate descent into madness—a madness that allows a wanderer to find home at last.

Saturday, November 17 @ 8pm

DESERTS
(Desiertos)
by Hugo Alfredo Hinojosa Díaz
translated by Caridad Svich
directed by José Zayas

This hard-hitting drama chronicles a history of violence along the US-Mexico border. Told in sharp, elliptical fragments, the play weaves together a series of interrelated stories that connect in unexpected ways: the tragedy of 18 illegal Mexicans that die in a trailer; the story of a woman and her daughter in search of a dream, and several parallel journeys that take place in the nowhere-anywhere affected by globalization. This play casts a distinct and uncompromising eye on daily tragedies in the modern world.

Sunday, November 18 @ 8pm

OF PRINCES, PRINCESSES,
AND OTHER CREATURES
(De Príncipes, Princesas,
y Otro Bichos)
by Paola Izquierdo
translated by Susana Cook
directed by Kristin Horton

A clever political satire that takes us into the fantastic world of two alchemists - a woman on a quest to transform the frogs she meets into prince charming, and a street kid chasing hallucinatory visions of a flying girl trying to make her real. Along the way these two twisted fairy tales turn into sharp exposes and whimsical, witty allegories of contemporary political events.

Monday, November 19 @ 8:30pm

The culminating event

WORD EXCHANGE CELEBRACIÓN

Excerpts from these exciting new works, meet the writers, and a celebration of this international exchange with food and drinks!

at HERE Arts Center

Our Mexican playwrights on the inspiration
for their work:

“I think 'princesses' or the idea (of) them promote stereotypes ... this creates a lot of frustrations, an image of defenselessness against the world, and avoiding responsibility for building our own happiness. " -Paola Izquierdo	"The play presents contemporary life regardless what border you're talking about. DESERTS represents the everyday battle of survival. " -Hugo Alfredo Hinojosa Díaz
"The inspiration came from the admiration for the life and work of Van Gogh and from the first impression he got of NY.” -Jorge Celaya	I believe that México, in every aspect (political, social, economical) is strongly linked to the sadness of the absurd." -Verónica Bujeiro

This program is a collaboration between the Lark and

Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes
(Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts) with support from

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Additionally, Lark's programming is generously supported by Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Altria, American Theatre Wing, Axe-Houghton Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (administered by Theatre Communications Group), The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, The John Golden Fund, FONCA (Mexico Fund for Arts and Culture), The Greenwall Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Lucille Lortel Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Time Warner, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State arts agency.