En el tiempo de las Mariposas / In the Time of the Butterflies

 Entertainment   Tue, March 27, 2018 05:28 PM

Washington, D.C. – GALA proudly continues its 42nd season with the DC premiere of En el tiempo de las Mariposas/In the Time of the Butterflies, a play by Caridad Svich based on the internationally acclaimed novel by award-winning author Julia Álvarez. Directed by José Zayas, who staged Crónica de una muerta anunciada/Chronicle of a Death Foretold, En el tiempo de las Mariposas runs April 12 through May 13, 2018 at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20010. Parking is available at a discounted rate in the Giant garage on Park Road, NW.

En el tiempo de las Mariposas is the fictionalized story of the courageous Mirabal sisters who challenged the oppressive dictatorship of General Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Using the code name “the butterflies”, the sisters inspired resistance cells throughout the country until their brutal murder by the regime on November 25, 1960. Told through the memories of the surviving sister Dedé, this riveting tale of injustice reveals the loving and conflicting relationships between the sisters; their emotional ties to the men in their lives; and the terrifying psychological power Trujillo held over his people.

In the years following their assassination, the Mirabal sisters became icons in their country and garnered international attention for their activism and deeds. In 1999, the United Nations established November 25 as the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in honor of the three sisters.

En el tiempo de las Mariposas is performed in Spanish with English surtitles, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. The Noche de GALA and Press Night is Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 8 pm, under the gracious patronage of His Excellency José Tomás Pérez, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States.

This production is made possible in part with generous support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT  

Caridad Svich received a 2012 OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre, a 2012 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a National New Play Network rolling world premiere for Guapa, and the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize for her play The House of the Spirits, based on the novel by Isabel Allende. Among her other works are 12 Ophelias, Any Place But Here, Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man’s Blues, Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (a rave fable), Instructions for Breathing, The Way of Water, Spark, Magnificent Waste, The Booth Variations, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Tropic of X, In the Time of the Butterflies, Fugitive Pieces, The Archaeology of Dreams, and JARMAN (all this maddening beauty). Her works in English and Spanish have been seen in venues across the country and abroad, including GALA, Arena Stage’s Kogod’s Cradle Series, Denver Center Theatre, Repertorio Español, 59E59, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Lighthouse Poole UK, Teatro Mori (Chile), Artheater-Cologne (Germany), Teatro Espressivo (Costa Rica), and Welsh Fargo Stage (Wales). She is alumna playwright of New Dramatists, founder of NoPassport theatre alliance & press, and has received fellowships from Harvard/Radcliffe, NEA/TCG, Pew Charitable Trusts, and California Arts Council. Ms. Svich holds an MFA in Theatre-Playwrighting from the University of California-San Diego and also trained with María Irene Fornes in INTAR’s legendary HPRL Lab.

ABOUT JULIA ÁLVAREZ

Julia Álvarez is a novelist, poet, and essayist.  Born in New York, she grew up in the Dominican Republic until she was ten and her father’s involvement in a political rebellion forced her family to leave. She has received acclaim for her novels How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, Yo!, and In the Name of Salomé. As a poet, her publications include Homecoming and The Woman I Kept to Myself, and as an essayist the autobiographical compilation Something to Declare. Considered one of the most significant Latina writers today, many of her works are influenced by her experiences as a Dominican in the United States and focus on issues of assimilation and identity. She is also known for works that examine cultural expectations of women both in the United States and the Dominican Republic.  Her awards include the Benjamin T. Marshall Poetry Prize, the Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets, First Prize in narrative from the Third Woman Press Award, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the General Electric Foundation.  She holds a BA from Middlebury College, where she currently is writer-in-residence, and a MFA from Syracuse University.


ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

José Zayas (Director) has directed over 100 productions in New York, regionally and internationally. At GALA he directed Crónica de una muerte anunciadaCancún, and La casa de los espíritus. Recent credits include: The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (BAM, Mass MoCa, US and European Tour), A Nonesuch Celebration (BAM),  Undocumented (Joe's Pub), Blind Spot, In The Name of SalomeAunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (Ace and Hola awards for best production and direction), BurundangaThe House of the Spirits (Ace Awards, Hola Award and Ovation awards for best production and direction), Your Name Will Follow You Home, La Nena Se CasaLove in the Time of CholeraIn the Time of the ButterfliesMadre (el drama padre)Bésame MuchoNowhere on the Border, and Barcelo on the Rocks (Repertorio Español); Washed Up on the Potomac (Flea Theater, San Francisco Playhouse);Pinkolandia and El Coqui Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom (Two River Theatre); Corazón Eterno (Mixed Blood); Southern Promises and Strom Thurmond is not a Racist (PS 122, Brick); Useless (IRT); Father of Lies and Vengeance Can Wait (PS122); P.S. Jones and the Frozen CityFeederA Love Story (TerraNOVA Collective); OkayMrs. Jones and the Man From Dixieland (EST); The Idea of Me (Cherry Lane Theatre); The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre in the Park); Manuel Vs. The Statue of Liberty and Children of Salt (NYMF); Wedding DressThe Island of Lonely Man (Teatro Espressivo, Costa Rica). He was assistant director for Talk Radio directed by Robert Falls; Regrets Only directed by Christopher Ashley; and Come Back Little Sheba directed by Michael Pressman. Awards: Ace, Hola Awards, Premios Ati, Ovation. Nytheater.com: People of the Year. Drama League Fellow, Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab, SoHo Rep Writers/Director’s Lab, NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, Ensemble Studio Theatre member, Resident Director Repertorio Español.  Born in Puerto Rico, he graduated from Harvard and Carnegie Mellon University.

Featured in the cast as the Maribal sisters are Cuban actors Broselianda Hernández, who last appeared at GALA in La noche de los asesinos, as older Dedé, Catherine Núñez as young Dedé, and Alina Robert as Minerva; and GALA company members Inés Domínguez del Corral, who appeared in Don Juan Tenorio, as Mate; and Lorena Sabogal, who was seen in Yo también hablo de la rosa, as Patria. Others in the cast are GALA company members Karen Romero and Delbis Cardona, who both recently appeared in GALita’s VolcanO-Cuentos de El Salvador. Ms. Núñez and Ms. Robert, who both appeared in Eclipse at the Casa de Teatro in the Dominican Republic, are making their GALA debut.

Scenic design is by Mariana Fernández, who designed sets for Cancún, among others, at GALA. Light design is by resident designer Christopher Annas-Lee, who designed Don Juan Tenorio and In the Heights, received a 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Yerma, and is a 2017-2018 Princess Grace Award winner. Costumes are by Moyenda Kulemeka, who designed for La Foto. Sound design is by David Crandall, who designed for Don Juan Tenorio and La Foto; Projections Design is by Alex Koch, who designed for La casa de los espíritus; and Properties are by Tony Koehler, who also designed for La Foto. Nelly Díaz-Rodríguez is Stage Manager. Production Manager is Lena Salins, and Devin Mahoney is Technical Director. Hugo Medrano is Producer.

TICKET INFORMATION

Regular tickets are $45 on Thursdays through Sundays. Tickets for students, military, seniors (65+), and 30 and Under are $30. Additional discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets for Noche de GALA and Press Night are $55 individual, $95 couple. To purchase tickets, call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

CONTACT:
Dubraska Vale / 202-234-7174 / dubraska@galatheatre.org