HartBeat Ensemble To Present Marilyn Torres in RUMBLE IN THE THEATER at Sea Tea Comedy Theater in Hartford

HartBeat Ensemble announced today a limited engagement of Rumble in the Theater, a funny and interactive experience written and performed by Marilyn Torres and directed by Dudley Findlay, Jr.. The show will be performed October 21, 22, 23 at 7pm and October 24 at 2pm at Sea Tea Comedy Theater, 15 Asylum Street in downtown Hartford.

Rumble in the Theater is about a Latina actress named Mari, who takes her mother to see a Broadway show. When the lights go down, she is told to "shut up" by another theater-goer. Mari is used to this happening, but, because Hurricane Maria has hit the island of Puerto Rico, she decides to take her power back. In doing so, she breaks the rules of engagement in the theater and chaos ensues. The disturbance of a Broadway play in the American Theater gets written about in an astute newspaper. Through the eyes of Mari, we begin to hear the voices of those who were at the theater and those who read about it in the newspaper.

Rumble in the Theater examines the gap between the underserved and the institution of the American Theater. It dares us to have a real conversation about racism, gender, opportunity and history about people that are not heard or seen on the Great White Way and in the world at large. According to Torres, "Rumble is meant to be interactive and to create a rumbling in its audience." Rumble in the Theater was developed at the Epic Theatre Ensemble.

HartBeat Ensemble Artistic Director Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. states, "HartBeat Ensemble is excited to bring Marilyn's disruptive and salient performance to Hartford. The fact that we are able to collaborate with Sea Tea Improv by performing the work at their intimate space in Hartford's downtown is a perfect synchronicity. Like comedy improv, Rumble in the Theater is meant to disrupt and shatter the boundary between performer and audience. I can't wait to see how Hartford, a community with a very large Puerto Rican community, responds to this story and its invitation to shake up what we know about theater."

Marilyn Torres hails from Harlem, New York. She has appeared as an actor in Water by The Spoonful at The Old Globe, Breath Boom at Yale Rep, Agony of the Agony at The Vineyard, Bike America at The Alliance Theater and Ma-Yi Theater. Ms. Torres was also part of The Tribeca Theater Festival in Late Night, Early Morning, produced by Robert De Niro, which went on to be produced at The HBO Comedy Festival where it won a Jury Award for Best Theater Piece.

Film credits include Maid in Manhattan, Lady in the Water, Bella, Bernard & Doris, The Arrangement, Musical Chairs, Home and The Big Sick. She has had principal roles on Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, For Life, The Unusuals, Flight of the Concord, Third Watch, and The Chris Rock Show. Her most recent roles were in Marvel's Dare Devil, High Maintenance and The King of Staten Island with Pete Davidson.

Ms. Torres teaches playwriting as a teaching artist, in NYC publics schools, juvenile centers and Rikers Island. She is the recipient of the Spotlight: Human Rights grant through Epic Theater Ensemble through which Marilyn was able to write a one person show called Rumble in the Theater. The play highlights the inequities and discrimination Latinos experience in the theater, both as theater artist and audience members. Ms. Torres other solo pieces are I Have Something to Say and Puerto Rican Splendor. Her solo work has been featured on Showtime at the Apollo and HBO Latino. Marilyn is also a Radical Aliveness/Core Energetics Practitioner.

Dudley Findlay, Jr is an accomplished director, actor, writer and producer who has been worked on numerous theatrical productions as well as television programs, commercials and voiceovers. Directorial projects include; She Hates Coffee by A.R. Garcia performed at the Hamilton Stage @ UCPAC and The Kumble Theater; Hazelle Goodman's one women show Hazelle, What's Going On?! and Indio Melendez's Manchild Dilemma, and his own critically-acclaimed, award-winning work Someday A Father Be. On stage he has appeared in ROY G BIV and the Every 28 Hours Plays at the McCarter Theater in Princeton University. He is also an advocate and mentor for People with Disabilities.

Tickets for Rumble in the Theater are $25 for General Admission and $20 for students, senior citizens, and Greater Hartford Arts Council's Let's Go Arts cardholders. Tickets can be reserved by visiting HartBeatEnsemble.org. No one turned away due to lack of funds. Please note: Masks and proof of vaccination will be required. For more information on HartBeat Ensemble's COVID safety policies, visit the website.

Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

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