PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new bilingual play developed in Philadelphia is having its world premiere this month.
“All My Mothers Dream in Spanish (Todas Mis Madres Sueñan en Español)” is a collaboration between Azuka Theatre and Teatro del Sol. It came out of Teatro del Sol’s La Fábrica new play development program, written by AZ Espinoza.
“The show is about three generations of a family who has its origins in the Caribbean or Latin American world,” Espinoza said. “They are each kind of wrestling with questions of racial injustice, both on an internalized level and a systemic level, and kind of asking themselves…how do I respond? How do I move forward?”
Espinoza feels fach generation has their own way of connecting with their culture and handling both external injustice and biases. Which is why the issue of colorism comes up between family members in the play.
“I have put into the play some things that I've just heard and never really processed with my family because there's not a lot of language or vocabulary or structure for conversations around colorism,” Espinoza said.
The script uses both English and Spanish, and it’s presented without subtitles. Espinoza said it’s a true representation of how many Latinx and multicultural families in America speak to each other.
“I have family members that I could speak to them fully in English, and they would respond to me fully in Spanish,” they explained. “We would be having a conversation, and it would sound like we had scripted it that way, but it's just the way it works.”
Even if you don’t speak any Spanish, or don’t speak any English, Espinoza and director José Avilés have made sure that every audience member will understand the play.
“It's written cleverly in that way that it somewhat translates the story,” Avilés said. “However, the story’s also told through magical realism and dreams … There's movement in the show as well, there's percussion in the show…that kind of supports the language in the play.”
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It also creates an opportunity for communication across cultures and between audience members.
“There will be multi-ethnic folks in the audience,” Avilés said. “There will be people who will understand every word, and please reach out to your neighbor and ask, and have a conversation about the play … That's what theater is all about.”
Azuka Theatre is using a “pay what you decide” model for this performance. Seats can be reserved online, but viewers pay what they feel is appropriate and what they can afford after the show.
“It really does allow everybody to come in and really enjoy the piece…without having to sort of commit with a big price tag,” Avilés said. “I think it's a beautiful model for what this show represents, and also what theater should be, right? Theater should be all inclusive, totally for the community.”
“All My Mothers Dream in Spanish” runs through March 19 at the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake. Reservations and more information are available at Azuka Theater’s website.