SANCOCHO Extends Off-Broadway at WP Theater

The Off-Broadway Premiere of Sancocho is extending its limited engagement, through Sunday, April 16, 2023. A new play by Christin Eve Cato (The Good Cop, DUAF 2022), and directed by Rebecca Martinez (Miss You Like Hell; Theatre for One: Here We Are), Sancocho is now playing at WP Theater (2162 Broadway).

Simmering between two Puerto Rican sisters is a family tension that finally comes to a boil. Forced to confront the reality of their father's rapidly declining health, Renata and Caridad clash over cultural divides, unearth old wounds, and reveal long-buried secrets. As Caridad's Sancocho bubbles on the stove, will the two sisters reconcile their past resentments to face their uncertain futures - together?

Sancocho stars Zuleyma Guevara (Bruise & Thorn, "Gotham") and Shirley Rumierk (Good Person, "Manifest," "Rise") as Caridad and Renata, respectively. Upon the play's opening, the production was praised as "succulent" by The New York Times, which urged audiences to "try the play's recipes: for forgiveness, for love. Sancocho, with the stew as its central metaphor, is a meditation on inheritance and family, how its members might eat and celebrate together, but suffer apart. With savory scents, sights, hand towels with a weave you can practically feel . . . this attention to detail is the best." TheaterMania described the play as "riveting and delightful! Under the sensitive, detail-oriented direction of Rebecca Martinez, the two actors convey an authentic sisterly bond that illuminates their cultural divergence."

Sancocho features scenic design by Raul Abrego (Princeton University's Adamandi, Ain't Misbehavin'), costume design by Harry Nadal (Miss You Like Hell, Porgy & Bess), lighting design by Maria-Cristina Fusté (Jagged Little Pill, Songs About Trains), and sound design by Germán Martinez (Into The Woods, Ohio State Murders), production stage management by E Sara Barnes (Jersey Boys, Broadway Bounty Hunter). Casting by Kelly Gillespie, C.S.A.

Sancocho was first produced by Vision Latino Theatre Company in October 2022, as part of Destinos, the fifth annual Chicago International Latino Theater Festival. The Chicago Tribune hailed the production as "inspirational" and "a multi-sensory experience...two strong [sisters] have the hard conversations, face down their generational trauma and find a path forward toward healing. The stew that they prepare throughout the evening serves as a metaphor for this process, as ingredients are sliced and crushed to create a meal 'healing to the soul.'" The Chicago Reader described the show as "rich family fare. Named for a type of beef stew, Sancocho highlights the significance of familia for the best or otherwise. The dialogue melds between English and Spanish sweetly as the Sancocho literally simmers on the stove. The scent made me long to return to Puerto Rico to devour más mofongo y tostones." Originally developed at Latinx Playwrights Circle's developmental programs, the play has also been selected as a featured play on #NewPlayExchange and developed at Ingenio Festival & Playwrights Center Core Apprentice Workshop.

Tickets are now available at www.wptheater.org. The ticket range is $39-$89. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm.

LATINX PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE

(LPC) is an artist-led development and production organization for Latinx(é) playwrights. Founded in 2017 by playwrights Guadalís Del Carmen and Oscar Cabrera with the mission to build a network of Latinx(é) playwrights nationwide in order to promote, develop and elevate their work while making their plays accessible to theater makers looking to find the next generation of American Storytellers. Its programs include Sunday Service, Fresh Draft Series, Greater Good Commision and Festival, Intensive Mentorship Program, LPC Community Nights and Page-to-Stage, whose inaugural production is Sancocho by Christin Eve Cato. LPC became a Company in Residence at Primary Stages after a successful presentation of their Infinite Stories Reading Series. In 2020 LPC received a residency at Kabayitos Theater, located in the Clemente Soto Velez Center where it produces a portion of their programming. In 2022 LPC was awarded a Creatives Rebuild New York Grant (CRNY) as well as the HOLA Award for Excellence in Theater. For more information on Latinx Playwright Circle and its many programs please visit http://www.latinxplaywrights.com LPC embraces the ever evolving landscape of Latinidad and the names used to describe this community, including Latiné, Latinx, Hispanic, and the next generation of names to come. Like language itself, this is an ever evolving name.

WP THEATER

now in its 45th Season, is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage in their careers. For over four decades we have served as leaders at the forefront of a global movement towards gender parity, and the example we set and the artists we have fostered have grown into a robust and thriving community of artists in theater and beyond. WP Theater received a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award, a 2019 Obie Award, and a 2020 Drama Desk Award, all for Outstanding Body of Work, recognizing WP's unique place and vital work in the theatrical landscape. WP empowers Women+ of all kinds to reach their full potential and, in doing so, challenges preconceptions about the kinds of plays women write and the stories they tell. As the premiere launching pad for some of the most influential Women+ theater artists today, our work has had a significant impact on the field at large. Nearly every prolific female theater artist has been through our doors, including 2019 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Musical, Rachel Chavkin, 2018 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Play, Rebecca Taichman, 2013 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Play, Pam MacKinnon, 2013 Tony Winner for Best Direction of a Musical, Diane Paulus, 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok, and two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage. These powerful women found an artistic home at WP and are a testament to our role as a driving cultural force. When we say Women+ we mean: cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond.

The Sol Project

is an Obie-award winning national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying the voices of Latiné playwrights in NYC and beyond. Founded by Jacob G. Padrón and driven by an artistic collective, The Sol Project works in partnership with leading theaters to center Latiné dramatists and nurture a growing community of Latiné theater artists. With the writers we champion, The Sol Project aspires to create a bold, timeless, and kaleidoscopic body of work for the new American theater.

The Sol Project launched in 2016 with the world premiere of Alligator by Hilary Bettis in collaboration with New Georges, followed by the New York premieres of Seven Spots on the Sun by Martín Zimmerman (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater) and Oedipus El Rey by Luis Alfaro (The Public Theater). In the fall of 2018, The Sol Project collaborated with Yale Repertory Theatre to produce the world premiere of El Huracán by Charise Castro Smith and in early 2020 partnered with Baltimore Center Stage and The Playwrights Realm to produce the world premiere of Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally by Noah Diaz. In 2022, The Sol Project partnered with Soho Rep for the world premiere of Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members by Mara Vélez Meléndez. And in spring of 2023, The Sol Project will partner with MCC Theater for the world premiere of Bees and Honey by Guadalís Del Carmen, as well as WP Theater and Latinx Playwrights Circle for the Off-Broadway premiere of Sancocho by Christin Eve Cato. In addition to productions, The Sol Project advances its mission by producing a yearly new play festival, SolFest, in partnership with Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, while also supporting writers through readings, workshops, a podcast (SolTalk), and ongoing symposia. In 2023, The Sol Project was awarded an Obie Grant, Off-Broadway's highest honor, for their unprecedented championing and support of Latiné voices in the theater and in recognition of outstanding achievement in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater during the 2020-2022 season.

The artistic collective includes Adriana Gaviria (Co-Artistic Director), Rebecca Martínez, David Mendizábal, Jacob G. Padrón (Co-Artistic Director), Julian Ramirez, and Laurie Woolery. Isabel Pask is the Producing Associate. Brian Herrera is the Resident Scholar. Stephanie Ybarra is the Resident Dramaturg. Kaelani Burja is the Student Intern and SolFest Dramaturg. www.solproject.org