The Commissioner’s 5th Hispanic Theater Festival is Announced

The Commissioner’s 5th Hispanic Theater Festival is Announced
Santo Domingo, 13 de Abril de 2015

The Dominican Commissioner of Culture in the United States’ 5th Hispanic Theater Festival will be held from May 14 to June 21, according to the announcement made by the festival director Luis Felipe Rodríguez.

The Dominican Commissioner of Culture, Carlos Sánchez, said that the 5th Festival will be dedicated to Quisqueyana actress Ana Hilda García who resides in Miami. She is the creator of ‘The Dominican Puppet Theatre’ children’s theater, which she founded in 1977, “which reflects her innovative thinking and makes her a pioneer woman in her country for creating the first puppet theater.”

“On the opening night of the festival, on Thursday, May 14 at 7 pm, we will pay a special tribute to Ana Hilda García for her extraordinary contributions to the Dominican theater,” said Sánchez. “In addition, we will present for the first time in the Commissioner’s playhouse, ‘Espigas maduras’, written by Dominican playwright Franklin Domínguez in 1958. The play is the first brave attempt to openly criticize the tyrant Trujillo, as it has been considered by writers of the stature of Antonio Fernández Spencer and Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, where Trujillo appears as an absolutist and tyrannical father, and his sons, fully ripen sprouts for freedom, represent the longing of the Dominican people to free themselves from the tyrant.”

“Espigas maduras” kicks off the first set of presentations, and is not competing for a prize.

The Commissioner’s Hispanic Theater Festival is held annually by the Dominican Commissioner of Culture in the United States, an agency of the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Republic, with the purpose of opening a space for cultural exchange among Spanish-speaking playwrights in the United States and Puerto Rico, and for disseminating the theater productions of these groups.

The festival is directed by noted actor and theater director Luis Felipe Rodríguez, who is assisted by actor Franklin Mateo.

The festival will award prizes to the Best Production of the order of $4,000 to the first place, $3,000 to the second place, and $2,000 to the third place.

In this edition of the festival, in addition to the plaques of recognition, for the first time cash prizes will be awarded in the categories of Best Director $2,000; Best Actress $1,000, and Best Actor $1,000, and the winner of the Audience Award will receive a plaque or trophy.

All performances are held in the Andrés Francisco Requena events room of the Commissioner of Culture, which is located at 541 West 145th Street, 2nd. floor, near the corner with Broadway, in Manhattan.

18 plays by theater companies from New York (Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn) will participate in the Commissioner’s 5th Hispanic Theater Festival, in addition to six plays from other states in the United States: Providence, Rhode Island, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

There are 4 plays by invited theater companies from other countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Cuba, which do not participate in the competition.

The jury of the Festival reserves the right to award any mention or recognition to the categories of director, actor, actress, stage, special effects, makeup, drama, costumes, etc., or to any outstanding theater element that the jury considers as deserving to be recognized.

Commissioner Sánchez said that the festival will make up room for the stage theater expression of Hispanics who reside and participate in cultural life in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Opening

Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 8:00 pm Art Show: “Divas de España” (Divas of Spain) by Inma Heredia