MIAMI.- Those of us who have followed Juan Roca’s career as a theater director know that his proposals are plastically beautiful, with very imaginative scenographic solutions and generally of good taste. Therefore, he is excited about his new project Venice sin ma show that the public will be able to enjoy from Friday, May 10 in its Havanafama room. theater Intimate, in the south of Miami.
The play takes place in a poor brothel in a remote town. The matron, now old and blind, dreams of going to Venice to meet an old love. The girls who work there decide to take her, but since they are poor they resort to imagination and a sensory game where they use their senses to make this old woman believe that she is traveling to Venice. The masterfully executed game becomes confused with the reality. This magical realism makes this setting one of the most beautiful in Havanafama, states the promotional note.
A few days before the premiere, DIARIO LAS AMRICAS spoke with director Juan Roca to find out details of the new theatrical proposal.
I would like a summary of the work in your own words.
I would say that it is a poem taken to the theater stage. A work that talks about human quality, the beauty of feelings in the most basic and humble people. The value of love and hope.
What motivated you about the text?
When the work Venice without me I was motivated by the topic and I started to make my own version of the text. Filling it with music, poems and dream situations.
From what I have read, it is a sensory journey, how have you handled it in your proposal?
Indeed we are in the presence of the theater within the theater. The characters immerse themselves in a theatrical and even childish game to make the dream of this blind old woman come true. It is an imaginary journey that ends up involving everyone in a magical reality that leads them to make love triumph.
Your promotion alludes to Juan Roca’s version and direction, how have you covered it?
My version has all the elements of a theater where magical realism plays a very important role. I have tried that in my version the contrast of an absolutely crude reality of a marginalized society with the unlimited beauty of the dreams and hopes of its characters from an underworld is the key to forming this piece.
Tell us about the cast, which includes the first actor Jorge Ovies
The cast is made up of Vernica Abruza, Alicita Lora, Rei Prado, JJ Paris, Osiel Veliz and of course the special performance of the first actor Jorge Ovies. With the assistance and support of actress Adelaida Rivero.
The original text of the piece is a comedy, but your promotional note says that it talks about solidarity, love, the power of imagination and dreams, do you treat it as a comedy or drama?
My version departs from the original work in many aspects and I could tell you that it is a romantic comedy.
Venice without me es a work for the whole family and especially for dreamers and lovers of whom we believe that everything you set your mind to can be achieved, because limits do not exist when you know that there is always a tomorrow that awaits us full of light.
Venice without me premieres on May 10, 2024 at Havanafama Teatro Intimo, 4227 SW 75 Avenue, Miami, 33155. Performances Friday and Saturday at 8:30 pm. Reservations at (786) 262-4014.
