PRTT to Present, for Free, Two Short Farces by Cervantes

The acclaimed Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre will present Entremes de Refranes and El Juez de los Divorcios by celebrated Spanish playwright Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra as their annual summer offering starting on August 1st in Manhattan with opening night slated for August 9th.  Performances in other boroughs will continue through August 26th.  The production will be performed in Spanish with an English synopsis.  All performances are open to the public and admission is free.

"The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre has been recognized as a pioneer in bilingual theatre, never abandoning its ties to their community.  For the last four decades, PRTT's annual summer tour brings them to parks, playgrounds and street corners throughout the five boroughs of New York and parts of New Jersey – bringing free theatre directly to individuals who are financially unable to afford Broadway and Off-Broadway ticket prices.  The company is one of the few touring theatres in the New York Metro area and is especially known and recognized for performing works in both English and Spanish," state press materials.

Entremes de Refranes and El Juez de los Divorcios are two short farces that were written in 1615 as part of Cervantes' Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses nuevos (Eight comedies and Eight New Interludes).  "These satirical stories dramatize, with slight misogynist humor, the everyday life of the common people."

Directed by Josean Ortiz, the production features: Claudio Alberio, Damaris Cabrera, Jonathan Florez, Alicia Kaplan, Hector Palacios, Ricardo J. Salazar, William Saquicela and Fulvia Vergel.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is considered to be one of the most important figures in literature and is associated with the cultural flourishing of sixteenth century Spain.  His most well-known novel, Don Quixote, is recognized as a classic of Western literature.  His other novels include La gitanilla (The Gypsy Girl), Novela de las dos doncellas (The Two Damsels) and Novela de la senora Cornelia (Lady Cornelia).

The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre is proud to announce that the JPMorgan Chase/JP Morgan Chase Foundation is the Major Sponsor of the 2007 Annual Summer Tour.  The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is participating in the 2007 JPMorgan Chase Summer Arts Series, a citywide festival of the performing arts. Con Edison has been a longtime Sponsor of the Annual Summer Tour as well.

Entremes de Refranes and El Juez de los Divorcios begins Wednesday, August 1st and will run through Sunday, August 26th.  For further information call 212-354-1293 or visit www.prtt.org.

Photo by Carol Rosegg - William Saquicela, Claudio Alberio, Ricardo J. Salazar; Bottom: Hector Palacios, Alicia Kaplan, Fulvia Vergel, Damaris Cabrera and Jonathan Florez