SpeakEasy Stage To Present LAUGHS IN SPANISH -

SpeakEasy Stage Company opens its 34th season with LAUGHS IN SPANISH, a cafecito –infused comedy about mothers, daughters, art, and success by award-winning Boston playwright Alexis Scheer (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella). 

On the eve of Art Basel, Mariana is about to open a career-defining show in her Miami gallery when suddenly all the paintings from her star artist go missing. To make matters worse, her once-famous, mostly absent mother Estella hits town with a mysterious agenda. Part telenovela, part whodunit, LAUGHS IN SPANISH is a poignant, playful exploration of family and identity.

Norton Award-winning director Mariela López-Ponce (Don’t Eat the Mangos) makes her SpeakEasy directing debut with this production.  She is a founding member and co-producing artistic director of Teatro Chelsea, a theatre company committed to bringing the work of Latin playwrights, actors, and other artists to the Boston area. 

Boston actors Paola Ferrer, Luz Lopez, Brogan Nelson, Daniel Rios Jr., and Rebekah Rae Robles comprise the cast.  Full bios are available on SpeakEasy’s Laughs in Spanish page.

The design team for LAUGHS IN SPANISH is Erik D. Diaz (scenic), Rebecca Glick (costumes), Amanda Fallon (lighting), Anna Drummond (sound), and Emilia Amador (props). 

LAUGHS IN SPANISH runs five weeks, from Sep. 13 – Oct. 12, 2023, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston.

Tickets start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and people 35 and under. Tickets and more information are available through BostonTheatreScene Audience Services at 617.933.8600 or online at SpeakEasyStage.com.  Estimated run time is 90 minutes with no intermission.

About the Playwright 

Alexis Scheer (Playwright) was born and raised in Miami in a Jewish-Colombian household. Her breakout play was the Off Broadway hit Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (NYT Critics Pick, John Gassner Award), and she made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella. Scheer’s other plays include Breaking the Story and Christina; her work has been produced by Second Stage, WP Theater, Center Theatre Group, Denver Center, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and others. Alexis is currently under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club, Miami New Drama, and Seaview. Her television and film credits include “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” (HBO Max), and projects developed for HBO Max/Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa, and for Sony Pictures Animation/Netflix. Scheer previously served as the producing artistic director of the award-winning Boston-area fringe company Off the Grid and appeared as an actor in Boston-area productions. She is an alum of New World School of the Arts at Miami Dade College and holds a BFA in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory as well as an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. IG: @scheer_madness (she/her) 

About the Director 

MARIELA LÓPEZ-PONCE is an award-winning actor and director based in Boston. Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, López-Ponce is a founding member and the co-producing artistic director of Teatro Chelsea, a theatre company committed to bringing the work of Latin playwrights, actors, and other artists to the Boston area. In 2023, she received the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Directo for her direction for Teatro Chelsea’s Don’t Eat the Mangos. López-Ponce’s current Teatro Chelsea project is the November world premiere of Alejandro Rodriguez’s play Alba, a 2024 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist. Previously, she was a founding member, producer, and director at Menagerie Theatre in Newburyport. She has also worked as an actor in Boston and beyond, including productions with Apollinaire Theatre, Lyric Stage, The Huntington, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, and Company One, as well as Folger Theatre (DC), 1st Stage (DC), Alley Theatre (Houston), Hartford Stage (CT), and Teatro Marti (Miami).  López-Ponce is a member of Actors’ Equity. (she/her)

Special Community Event

Friday, October 4 – Noche Latina

On Friday, October 4, SpeakEasy Stage, in partnership with Teatro Chelsea, will present Noche Latina.  The fiesta begins at 6PM in the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street in Boston, where attendees will enjoy Cuban food, Latin music, and a celebration of Latinx art before attending the 7:30PM performance of Laughs in Spanish. While folks of all backgrounds are welcome, this event will specifically be geared toward those that identify as part of the Latinx community. Tickets to the event and show are just $30 with the Promo code SPKNOCHE30 and are available online at BostonTheatreScene.com or by calling the Calderwood Pavilion Box Office:  617.933.8600. 

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