Hostos Center to Present Repertorio Espanol in LA GRINGA, 3/18

The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture presents Repertorio Español performing La Gringa by Carmen Rivera on Friday, March 18, 7:30 PM in the Repertory Theater at Hostos Community College. The comedy, the longest running off-Broadway Spanish language play which tells the story of Maria, a young woman searching for her roots in Puerto Rico, celebrates its 20th Anniversary this season. La Gringa is performed in Spanish, with English surtitles. After the performance, there will be a Talk-Back with the actors and Ms. Rivera. Tickets for La Gringa are $15 with discounted student tickets at $5, and are available through www.hostoscenter.org or by calling (718) 518-4455. The Box Office window is open Monday through Friday, 1 PM to 4 PM, and two hours prior to events. The Center is located on the campus of Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse in the Bronx, just steps from the 149th/Grand Concourse subway station.

Debuted at Repertorio Espanol's Manhattan venue in February, 1996, La Gringa has been performed in Puerto Rico, Columbia, Bolivia, and all around the United States. La Gringa is about a young woman's search for her identity. Mari­a Elena Garcia goes to visit her family in Puerto Rico during the Christmas holidays and arrives with plans to connect with her homeland. Although this is her first trip to Puerto Rico, she has had an intense love for the island and even majored in Puerto Rican Studies in college. Once Maria is in Puerto Rico, she realizes that Puerto Rico does not welcome her with open arms. The majority of the Puerto Ricans on the island consider her an American - a gringa - and Mari­a considers this a betrayal. If she's a Puerto Rican in the United States and an American in Puerto Rico - Maria concludes that she is nobody everywhere. Her uncle, Manolo, spiritually teaches her that identity isn't based on superficial and external definitions, but rather is an essence that she has had all along in her heart.

The cast includes Darlenis Duran as Maria, Abdel Gonazalez as Monchi, Mario Mattei as Victor, Gredivel Vazquez as Iris, Rosie Barrido as Norma, and Frank Robles as Uncle Manolo.

Rivera holds an MA in Playwriting and Latin American Theatre from New York University. In addition to Her OBIE-Award winning play La Gringa, Rivera co-wrote, with Cándido Tirado, Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz, (HOLA Award 2008, Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting), which played Off-Broadway at New World Stages and toured Florida, Chicago, Tenerife, Canary Islands and the Centro de Bellas Artes (Center for the Fine Arts) in Puerto Rico. Other Off-Broadway productions include: La Lupe: My Life, My Destiny (2002 ACE Award - Best Production); Julia de Burgos: Child of Water; To Catch The Lightning (1997 Nomination ACE Award - Best Production); The Next Stop (INTAR / Repertorio Español); and Under The Mango Tree (INTAR).

Repertorio Español was founded in 1968 by Stage Director René Buch and the late Theatre Producer Gilberto Zaldívar, and has become one of the most successful Off-Broadway theatres. The Company was founded with the mission of producing the finest Spanish-language theatre from Latin America and Spain as well as plays written by Hispanic Americans. The Company presents a rotating repertory of 15 different plays, musicals and dance concerts in over 300 performances every year. Its productions are seen by over 50,000 people annually at its home, the historic Gramercy Arts Theatre and on tour. Every year, approximately 20,000 students are introduced to the heritage of Spanish-language theatre through its education program, ¡DIGNIDAD!