The Show Must Go On: RIC Alumni Ensure that Latinx Theater Thrives, Even During a Pandemic
“The show must go on,” thought Jennifer Sanchez ’16 (pictured above) when COVID restrictions clamped down in March of 2020 and all gatherings at enclosed places, including theaters, were banned. Sanchez, a musical theatre major at Rhode Island College, started writing “Abue” (an endearing term in Spanish to refer to a grandmother) during her senior year as a way to see her Mexican heritage reflected on stage.
“While at RIC, I was doing shows here and there, but it started to feel like I was getting disconnected from where I was from, my roots,” she recalls. “My parents emigrated here from Puebla, Mexico. And by my senior year I started to realize that there were not many plays that were connected to my heritage, so I thought, ‘What if I write my own play?’ That’s how I started to develop ‘Abue,’ a play that is inspired by my family.”
The story centers on Fernando, an ambitious man, and his wife Marta, a shy, but loving and caring woman; together they work hard to open their own business. Sadly, Fernando is diagnosed with a mental illness and they decide to close their store. Rose (their daughter) encourages Marta to continue with the family business and maintain the legacy of her abue.
Sanchez served as the writer, director. and producer. “It was tough,” she says, “to find bilingual actors who could read and speak both in English and Spanish.” Eventually, she connected with RI Latino Arts and Trinity Repertory Company to do a small preview and connect with other artists, “providing more representation and embracing our heritage and culture in stage,” she notes. “You can’t do theater by yourself; you need people to work with.”
By 2020, the production debuted as a virtual performance in Spanish, including English subtitles. Six of the nine actors were RIC alumni and students; the other three were from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
After a few weeks, Sanchez began receiving positive feedback in the form of comments on the YouTube video of the performance. One that particularly inspired her was from Analia Alcolea, chairwoman of the Providence Latinx Film Festival, who wrote, “It was an INCREDIBLE challenge, which Ms. Sanchez ended up doing so magically and effectively, by leading, teaching, showing and encouraging, with an enthusiastic spirit, all of us.”
Of course, being part of the creative team is not the only way to keep theater going during a pandemic – and to make sure that Latinx voices are represented there; Anna Cano-Morales M.S.W. ’99, Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at RIC, has been a tireless supporter for Francis Parra, cofounder of Teatro ECAS, a Latinx theater based in Providence. With behind-the-scenes help from Cano-Morales, Parra is working on the production of a new theater performance that tells real and factual stories about the local Latinx population and the disparities they’ve experienced during the COVID pandemic.
“Impacto Desproporcionado” (or “Disproportionate Impact”) opens live on October 7 at Teatro ECAS. It presents difficult but truthful narratives of Latinx experiences during the pandemic, like family members suffering from the virus who are unable to go to the hospital because their immigration status will put them in jeopardy, or others reduced to living under a bridge because the pandemic has left them jobless.
“We want to document and at the same time present in this documentary play the stories of these people,” Parra explains. “In the pandemic, I met some individuals who are now street dwellers, some who had a family daycare and had to close, and others who after dealing with the virus were discriminated against when returning to work.”
Parra praises Cano-Morales’s commitment to the Latinx community, and for supporting Latinx theater in ways that don’t necessarily show up in the program credits. “She guided us on how to obtain the resources that make this project possible. She gave us statistics, connections for interviews, linked us with the doctors we needed to talk to,” says Parra. “With her help, we received grants from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, the Rhode Island Foundation and the New England Foundation for the Arts.”
Parra notes that Teatro ECAS wants a presentation that is allegorical to the Latinx community. “Not all the stories are going to be represented in the play, for privacy reasons, but we are making sure that the ones that are have an impact,” she explains.
For her part, Cano-Morales got involved because she believes that theater in an important resource for an underserved community – especially during difficult times like the pandemic. “The arts have long been an outlet for communities to express themselves on topics that are deep and reflective of the times lived,” says Cano-Morales. “Hispanic Theater is an effective medium that is relevant to our state and can offer inspiration that can bring attention to the ravages of the pandemic, as well as help the community come together and process, which will eventually help them heal.”
“Impacto Desproporcionado” will be performed at Teatro ECAS, 57 Parkis Avenue Providence, in Spanish, with English translations in simulcast supertitles.