The Astronaut’s Wish arrives on New York stages exploring the mind of the last Puerto Rican in space.
“It is the first time that I have directed a musical and in English, so telling the story and doing it in the most entertaining and accessible way for all the public who visits us has been the greatest challenge of all,” says Leyma López, director of The Astronaut’s Wish.
The work inspired by autobiographical stories and real training missions of NASA personnel is full of images, sounds and surprises of classic science fiction.
“Theater is that, a fact where everything comes together to tell a story to you, to our audience, in a month, so that they come to see us,” he adds.
Reimagined for the Teatro Ambulante Puertorriqueño stage, the production features an entirely new design, new musical arrangements and a new cast of performers, all talented Latinos.
“It has been a very nice experience working with this cast, especially because of the variety of cultures that we have come together with,” says Leyma López, director of the play.
Adrift on the US Wanderer, an old space station in orbit around Mars and in intermittent contact with Earth, the protagonist undertakes repairs that could facilitate his rescue or accelerate his court-martial for insubordination.
The theater director told us about her parallels with life in New York.
“The work has a lot to do with our individual consequences and our meaning as human beings. The main character of the work is Esteban Only and he is a being who, once he fulfills his dream of reaching space—his dream as a child, of being an astronaut—while there, an accident occurs. He is going to tell us passages from his life, reflections on his life, reflections so much that they become so individual and so personal that we can identify with the character,” explains López.
The Astronaut’s Wish runs until May 26 at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater on 47th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.
For more information and tickets, visit the website pregonesprtt.org
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