PAST PROJECTS

A NIGHT TO FORGET (2003), written by first-time playwright/actor Belange Rodriguez and Jaime Velez and directed by Peter Shaughnessy, is a story of recovery after abuse.

ADORATION OF THE OLD WOMAN (2004) (Staged Reading), written by award-winning playwright Jose Rivera and directed by Jo Bonney, surrounds the Puerto Rican struggle with statehood.

ALL SIDES (2004) - written by Michael J. Narvaez and directed by Jesse Mojica, is about true love at its nastiest! All Sides chronicles the trials and tribulations of two people who are simultaneously: lovers,
adversaries, ex-spouses, confidantes, soul mates and enemies.

BETTY'S GARAGE (2002), written by Obie-Recipient Carmen Rivera and Directed by Gloria La Morte, deals with an underground railroad for abused women - very similar to the underground railroad Harriett Tubbman created for slaves. In Betty's Garage, Betty and her husband George, have set up a rotating hide-out, from where the abused women begin their journey to safety.

BRANCHES (2005), written by A.B. Lugo and directed by Stephen Beckford, explores what happens when one is faced with temptations of street life and the search for family unity.

CHAINED DOG (2004), written by by Robert Santana and directed by Jerry Rodriguez, centers on a divorced bachelor who lives alone and creates turmoil within his family when he refuses to attend his youngest daughter's wedding.

CHOPPING (2002), written by Magdalena Gomez and Directed by Diane Kimball, is an exploration of the buying and selling of cultural and gender identity - it is the story of Mina and the women in her life who have been at the soul of her formation as a woman and a sexual being - her closet and her possessions are alive with memories, stories and secrets.

CONVERSE SNEAKERS (2003), written and Performed by Philadelphia-based playwrights Julia Lopez and Magda Martinez and Directed by Vashti Dubois, is about the trials and tribulations of being a Puerto Rican girl on the NYC subway.

FADED (2005), written by Robert Dominguez and directed by Veronica Caicedo, isa about a down and out journalist who tries to revive her career at a scandalous supermarket tabloid.

FRIDA, VICE VERSA (2005), written by Marian Licha & R. Dennis Green and directed by Jessica Lefkow, is a one-woman show that flourishes on the conceit that the audience might be among Frida Kahlo's first student at La Esmeralda school for painting in Mexico City.

FUEGO (2004), written by Obie recipient Juan Shamsul Alam and directed by Rick Reid. Carmen Roman, the patriarch of the family, is biding her time until her son Papo, a dysfunctional bipolar, fianally gets out on his own. Meanwhile Papo, who aspires to becoming a famous poet someday; struggles to hold the family together.

GHOSTS IN BROOKLYN (2005) - (staged reading), written by Carmen Rivera and directed by Ariel Nazryan.

HANGING WITH VEGETABLE IN THE JOTA (2002), written and Directed by Coati Mundi Hernandez, is a one-man play about the plight of famed, legendary Cuban entertainer Chico Cruz Cortez in his quest for a neonate acquisition.

HOMEGIRLS ON THE PROWL, written by Cyn Cañel Rossi was originally conceived as a series of monologues. However, after a year of working on the piece, what emerged was an edgy and poetic piece showcasing the voices of five adolescent poets mouthing off about the complexities woven into coming of age. Stylistically it pays homage to For Colored Girls , a choreopoem authored by one of the playwright's heroines, Ntozake Shange. Behind the tongue-in-cheek title is bold material that addresses issues of identity, sexuality, family and racial tension. After a staged reading at La Tea Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, the playwright was invited to present the piece at the The Henry Street Settlement Abron Arts Center as part of the organization's "Young Playwrights Drama Series. That run was embraced by both The New York Times and The Village Voice . HOMEGIRLS then appeared at The W.O.W. Café Theater as part of The Latina Playwrights Festival and most recently at New York University's R.I.S.E. Conference. The play is currently appearing on the college circuit. Some performances include Bard College and Wells College.

LALÍ'S SONG (2002), written by Cyn Cañel Rossi and Directed by Veronica Caicedo, is written in prose and poetry. Lali's Song chronicles the life of Lali de Rodriguez - beginning with her departure in the 1940's from her homeland of Puerto Rico to her experiences of assimilation in New York. Lali's Song explores the racial tension and political climate Lali faced during a period of forty years as a transplant in New York.

LEY OF THE LAND (2004), written by Fernando Mañon and directed by Robert Michael Johnson, is the story of a life-long Dominican community activist accepts the services of a "square" African-American defense attorney as he faces a long sentence for defacing NYPD property. Tensions between the Latino community and the African-American community become the focal point of their relationship.

MAMMA'S BOYZ (2002), written and Directed by Candido Tirado, is the story of three friends who live in the projects and have dropped out of school. In the present they find themselves without any money and contemplate selling drugs. But something magical intervenes and presents other alternatives.

MI FAMILIA (2002), written by Jaime Velez and Directed by Carlos J. Serrano, is the story of a young Puerto-Rican man, J.J., who finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, and he does not know how to confront this reality. In an effort to deal with his issues surrounding fatherhood he isolates himself from everyone and probes into memories of his own family.

PUERTO RICO, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (2003), written by Nancy Nevárez and Directed by Henry Guzman, explores machismo and national pride in response to the sexual assualts during the 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade. "Puerto Rico." was recently one of the winners in The Repetorio Español's Nuestras Voces Playwrighting Competition.

SEMPER FIdel, (2005) written by Fernando Manon & directed by Jose Esquea. After an appearance at the United Nations Conference on poverty, Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro disappears only to reappear at a bodega in Spanish Harlem.

SNOWMEN (2005), written and directed by Frank Algarin. Three generations of Puerto Rican father and son relationships try to come to terms with the past.

STAKES IS HIGH (2003), written and performed by PattyDukes and directed by Gamal Chasten. A member of the critically acclaimed poetry group Universes, tackles the issues of the hip-hop generation in the prison industrial complex.

THE OUTSIDE MAN (2004), by Robert Dominguez and directed by James E. Hinton, is a dark drama set in Queens, New York. The play explores an offbeat relationship between a middle-aged Cuban-American man and his domineering older sister, who are involved with a charismatic phone psychic.a mysterious young woman who comes between them.

THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE (2005), written by Vincent Toro & directed by Vincent Toro and Grisel Acosta, is a dramedy about the realities of teaching in the NYC public school system.

THE WOMEN OF NINE (2004), written by Cyn Cañel Rossi, Angie Cruz & Karen Torres and directed by Cyn Cañel Rossi, presents a glimpse into the lives of three distinct Latina women, guilty of violent crimes, who share Cell Block 9 on death row at a maximum-security prison in Texas.

TO THE BAGGAGE CLAIM (2004), written by Tanya Saracho and directed by Veronica Caicedo, is a comedy about a young woman who has last minute change of heart after arranging to fly her American lover to meet her traditional Mexican parents.

TRANSPLANTATIONS (2004), written by Janis Astor Del Valle and directed by Allison Astor-Vargas, is a solo, autobiographical play. This work juxtaposes monologues, poetry and storytelling to explore a woman's lifelong grappling with cultural and sexual identity as a Bronx-born Puerto Rican lesbian, uprooted from her beloved barrio and transplanted to rural Connecticut at age seven.

YO SOY LATINA! (2002), written and Directed by Linda Nieves-Powell. Six culturally diverse Latinas are invited to a "What is a Latina?" seminar, and when they realize the facilitator may not show up, they decide to figure out the answer for themseves.

X&Y STORIES (2003), a unique ensemble effort which brings together a group of established latino talent writing new stories that comment on Latino sexuality. Ensemble of playwrights include: Pulitzer Prize recipient Nilo Cruz, Obie winner Carmen Rivera; award-winning writer of plays, musicals and operas, Migdalia Cruz; renowned writer/director Michael Garces; award-winning playwright Edwin Sanchez; actor/ writer/producer and co-founder of Sisters On Stage, Janis Astor del Valle; writer/producer and co-founder of Cynalex Productions, Cyn Cañel Rossi; and writer/director and co-founder of LatinoWorld/MundoLatino, Inc., Jesse Mojica. Says director Candido Tirado, "X & Y takes a sizzling look at everything you wanted to know about Latino sexuality, but were afraid to ask".