Theater News

Cuban Arts Festival To Be Held in NYC, May 1-31

Nilo Cruz(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)
Nilo Cruz
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

Readings of new plays by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, Caridad Svich, and Jose Triana will be among the highlights of the third annual Cuban Arts Festival, which will take place in various New York City venues from May 1 through 31. Presented by the Cuban Artists Fund and Instituto Cervantes, the CAF will embrace more than 30 events, including performances, screenings, art exhibitions, and lectures.

Five readings of new plays will be included in the Festival: Triana’s Palabras Comunes (Common Language), May 9 at the Martin E. Segal Theatre at CUNY; Ricky J. Martinez’s Heavenly Hands, May 10 at Repertorio Español; Svich’s Prodigal Kiss, May 12 at the Segal Theatre; Cruz’s Lorca in a Green Dress, May 15 at Repertorio Español; and Jorge Cortina’s Bird in the Hand, May 16 at New York Theatre Worskhop. In addition, Repertorio Español will present four performances of Cruz’s Anna in the Tropics (May 7, 8, 14, and 15). And, on May 16, NYTW will host an event in honor of another award winning playwright: “Celebrating Maria Irene Fornes.”

At a press conference for the event held yesterday, Eduardo Machado, artistic director of INTAR — which is presenting the reading of Svich’s play — told TheaterMania that the company is still seeking a new home, having lost its West 52nd Street theater last year. He said they plan to be settled by September, when INTAR will kick off its 2005-2006 season with the premiere of his new play Kissing Fidel. “I’ve been working on this play for many years,” Machado said. “It takes place at a funeral in Miami in 1994, where one of the family members makes the decision to go back to Cuba. Some of the people think it’s cowardly and others think it’s brave. Personally, I think it’s brave.”

Among the other performing arts events in the Festival will be a concert presentation of the opera Before Night Falls, based on the book by Reinaldo Arenas, May 2 and 3 in the Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center; performance artist Tania Brugera’s Portraits: 2004-2005, in which she has set the recorded speeches of world leaders to music, May 13 at Instituto Cervantes; and a concert by singer Juan Carlos-Formell and poet Ricardo Pau-Llosa, May 20 at The Living Room.

For more information about the Cuban Arts Festival, visit www.cubanartsfestivalny.org or phone 212-969-8435.