16th Street Theater Presents A Free, Pop Up Performance of BRUJAJA By Melissa DuPrey

16th Street Theater will give a free community performance of Melissa DuPrey's BRUJAJA directed by Miranda Gonzalez to kick-off the 2019 Pop Up New Play Reading Series. The community performance will take place at Morton West Auditorium at 2400 Home Ave in Berwyn, IL, on Thursday, February 7 at 7:00 PM. Underwritten by 16th Street's 100 Club Members, this event is free and open to the public. Cast includes Elena Feliz, NK Gutierrez, Wendy Mateo, Andrew Neftali Perez, Isabel Quintero, Maria Velazquez, and Isaly Viana.

BRUJAJA is DuPrey's first full-length play but she is already well-known for her comedic one-woman shows SEXomedy (2012, 2018) and SUSHI-frito (2014), both which enjoyed critical acclaim and a staunch loyal following at sold-out runs. You may have caught her on television's The Resident (Fox), Chicago PD (NBC), The Chi (Showtime), the Emmy-nominated web series Brown Girls, or emceeing the Chicago Women's March this past year. DuPrey's work is sharp, wildly comedic, centering on disenfranchised voices, and in itself: an act of radical love.

Perhaps, one of the most intersectional voices in Chicago, DuPrey's BRUJAJA embodies layers on layers of complexity - from the nuances of anti-Blackness within the Latinx community, to modern clashes in wellness and spirituality, to dynamics between two sisters, Ife and Omi, raised in the same household and navigating the world very differently. With, Brujaja, DuPrey continues her commitment to explore themes that are both personal and political, all of this unfolding in a family's botánica.

Brujaja is a play about an accidental witch, Ife, with who finds that Brujería holds much more responsibility and power than she realized. After, living above her mother's botánica her whole life, Ife finally finds her purpose in the larger fight against oppression and wellness. When the medical industry and systemic oppression prove to be all too strong of an enemy, how does brujería fit into the resistance? Living above a botánica her entire life, Ife is no stranger to the healing power of brujería. Do you have what it takes to be a real BRUJA?

"Brujaja is an exciting story that gives voice to a subject that mainstream folks find taboo," states director Miranda Gonzalez, "Santeria is the fabric that makes up the African diaspora. It is where our past and present exist as one body. Melissa's writing is a rare find. She tells this story with dialogue that is relatable through humor and truth while creating complex characters. She is an unchained spirit and is shows in her work. As an Afro-Latinx woman, I feel lucky to be a part of this process and give vision to Melissa's colloquy."

This performance is a part of 16th Street Theater's 2019 Pop Up Series: Three New Plays underwritten by the theater's 100 Club members. Brujaja is the first of three new plays in our reading series, curated by Nancy García Loza (NNPN Producer In Residence). Next up in the series: Debbie Baños' Bell's Palsy & Other American Side Effects (April 17) and Dolores Díaz's Los Tequileros (October 23).
Facebook event here.

TO ATTEND THIS FREE PERFORMANCE or FOR MORE INFO: By email - boxoffice@16thstreettheater.org By Phone - (708) 795-6704 x107 Or just show up the night of the show!
HOW MUCH: FREE

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