BLOOM Receives US Premiere At IATI Theater

IATI Theater will return to live performance with the world premiere of the frighteningly prescient play BLOOM, written by Marco Antonio Rodriguez and directed by Victoria Pérez. BLOOM begins performances on Saturday, April 16 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 8. Press Opening is Thursday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursday & Friday 7:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday at 3 p.m. Performances are at the IATI Theater (64 East 4th Street, between Bowery and 2nd Avenue; BDFM trains to Broadway-Lafayette/F train to 2nd Ave/6 train to Bleecker or Astor Pl). The regular ticket price is $20; it's pay-what-you-can on April 16-17. For tickets and more information visit IATITheater.org.

After being taken, imprisoned, and tortured for what the government decrees a "shameful" lifestyle, Roan returns home to face a final judgment. His mother, Julia, has but an hour to decide whether to personally execute her only child and rid the country of what the dictatorial regime calls "the shame of the nation" or face the assassination of herself and her entire family. As the clock inches towards a final decision, the battle for life, truth, and understanding is shaken by unexpected revelations that challenge mother and child to question their preconceived ideas about one another and the true meaning of unconditional love.

Playwright Marco Antonio Rodriguez has crafted a searing, emotionally charged play inspired by the gay genocide that has silently been taking place in Chechnya, with excerpts from the play taken

from actual narrations of tortured LGBTQ+ youth. Through this lens, he's crafted a powerful play that captures the intimate story of a mother and son cursed by fate, who live a lifetime in their last hour together.

"The spread of misinformation and targeting of the underrepresented in mainstream American politics reflect how totalitarianism and fanaticism break apart families and lead to unjust and unnecessary human suffering. Current events such as the widespread controversy around transgender youth or even the war in Ukraine are a reflection of the fact that we're all at risk," says IATI Theater's artistic director Winston Estevez. "Marco Antonio brought the theme of totalitarianism and LGBTQ+ discrimination to an extremely universal story of mother and son. At the core of the play, there's the powerful evolution that both characters live during their last hour together."

The BLOOM cast features Rafael Beato (Hola and Latin ACE Award-winner for La Canción at Repertorio Español; Helen Hayes Award-nomination for In the Heights at Gala Theatre, DC) as Roan and Monica Steuer (Fur at Next Door@New York Theater Workshop; 200 Letters with Lin-Manuel Miranda) as Julia.

The design team includes Miguel Valderrama (lighting designer, production manager and technical director); Lynne Koscielniak (set designer); Michael Hernandez (sound designer); and Michael Piatkowski (costume designer). The Production Stage Manager is Danielley Ostolaza.

Marco Antonio Rodriguez (playwright) is a native New Yorker with Dominican roots. His award- winning plays La Luz de un Cigarrillo (Ashes of Light), Barceló on the Rocks, and In the Name of Salomé have been produced throughout the United States, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic. His adaptation of Junot Díaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is currently enjoying an extended, Off-Broadway run at Repertorio Español. MFA, Meadows School of the Arts; MFA, Stephens College. Banff International Writing Residency, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Fellow. www.marcoantoniorodriguez.com

Victoria Pérez (director) is a Puerto Rican theater artist with over 25 years of experience on the stage. Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Raíces Theatre Company, she studied musical theater at AMDA. In New York City, she's worked with Pregones Theater and Repertorio Español. In Buffalo, she has performed and directed with Road Less Traveled Productions, Ujima, Musicalfare, and Kavinoky, among others. Victoria is the winner of multiple Artie awards in performing and directing.

IATI Theater is a Latinx led 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to serve as a platform for

global artists and a bridge for communities to access theater at the forefront of innovation in both English and Spanish. Founded in 1968 by Venezuelan director Abdón Villamizar and a group of Latinx writers, we produce works that are original, exciting, bold, experimental, intimate, and engaging while highlighting the complexity, contradictions, richness, and depth of the myriad experiences among the many Latin and international cultures. IATI creates theater with subject matter that is culturally relevant, political, challenging, as well as entertaining.

To post a comment, you must register and login.