The Sol Project Announces Complete Programming for SOLFEST 2020: VIRTUAL EDITION

The Sol Project announced today full details for the third annual SolFest: A Latinx Theater Festival, produced in partnership with Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (Pregones/PRTT) and in collaboration with the Play At Home initiative and North Star Projects. In accordance with COVID-19 restrictions, the festival, which has been reimagined this year, will be held virtually on August 3rd, 4th and 5th.

SolFest Producer and Founding Member of The Sol Project Adriana Gaviria stated, "SolFest 2020 explores artmaking in the digital space where we can easily connect with artists and audiences from all over the world, bring together our art and activism, and encourage multi-disciplinary collaborations and new ways of storytelling as we look forward with excitement to the future of Latinx voices in the American theater."

SolFest 2020: Virtual Edition will include three days of Latinx work, including works in progress, film, panels, short plays, immersive and interactive projects and multi-disciplinary collaborations. Presentations will begin at 7:30pm ET each evening.

Pregones/PRTT's artistic director Rosalba Rolón shared, "Once again, Pregones/PRTT enthusiastically joins The Sol Project in celebrating another edition of SolFest. The dynamic roster of Latinx playwrights and plays participating in SolFest2020 adds an important dimension to the launch of our 20-21 Season and to our commitment to creating new works."

On Monday, August 3, get a sneak peek of Torched!, a new musical written by Rosalba Rolón with original music by Desmar Guevara, and featuring Álvaro Benavides, Rosal Colón, Caridad De La Luz, Desmar Guevara, Gabo Lugo, and Omar Pérez.

The work-in-progress is paired with two award-winning selections from Pregones/PRTT's 21 Islands International Short Film Fest, curated by Melissa Ramos: The Bathtub, directed by Jonay García from Tenerife and Noon Express, directed by Alberto Martín from Cuba. This final episode of Pregones/PRTT's REMOJO 2020 series also kicks off the first day of SolFest 2020: Virtual Edition.

On Tuesday, August 4, the Sol Project in collaboration with North Star Projects will feature a night of conversations, art sharing and new work from Latinx storytellers from different artistic perspectives and mediums including:

Bright Spots, a tribute by Teatro Luna Artistic Director, Alexandra Meda, to honor the memory of actress, director, playwright, producer, and Sol Project Honorary Board Member Diane Rodriguez, who passed away earlier this year.

A conversation and artshare presentation with Miranda Gonzalez, writer of Back in the Day, an 80s House Music Dancesical adapted from José "Gringo" Echevarria's book The Real Dance Fever. Back in the Day was originally created and performed at Urban Theatre Company, located in Chicago's historically Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park and where Gonzalez serves as Artistic Director.

Adapting Without Abandoning-A live performance of I Don't Speak Spanish by poet Alexis Elisa Macedo.

Caldo De Mosca (Housefly Soup)-A conversation and artshare presentation with Jesus Mario Contreras. 20th Century documentary filmmakers debated whether they represent flies on the wall or flies in the soup. Learn how 21st Century Docsters trade auto-biographical, longitudinal recipes for Housefly Soup, each based in their respective cultures and traditions.

A presentation of 20 After 20: A Mock Into The Future (Part One), a short mockumentary hybrid piece which takes a look into the creation of a group that would radically transform American government-the rise of the Black & Brown Coalition Party, formally known as the Black & Brown Guerilla movement. Story and concept by Christin Eve Cato; devised by Christin Eve Cato, Andres Santiago Pina, Ashley Marie Ortiz, Yadira De La Riva, and Caridad "La Bruja" De La Luz.

Specially customized for SolFest, an interactive and immersive sneak peek of Carla's Quince, an immersive virtual theater experience to mobilize the Latinx vote, created collaboratively by The Voting Project Ensemble, featuring Ashley Alvarez, Jason Aguirre (co-facilitator), Galia Backal (associate director), Yadira De La Riva, Jorge Donoso, Estefanía Fadul (director), Michael Leon, Camila Pérez Santiago, María Peyramaure, and Christina Watanabe (designer).

On Wednesday, August 5, the final evening of SolFest will feature presentations of three short plays commissioned as part of the Play at Home initiative. The evening will include:

Soñar es luchar by Virginia Grise, directed by Kendra Ware, featuring Paula Alvarez-Espinosa, Marlene Beltran, Lydia Li and Carissa Pinckney.

the human is sad; let's start a band by juliany taveras, directed by Georgina Escobar, featuring Rayanne Gonzalez, Andrea Negrete, Tanya Perez, Cristina Pitter, Imani Russell and Jackie Torres.

Magic Garden by Cándido Tirado, directed by Eddie Torres, featuring Karen Aldridge, John Burgos, Rinska Carrasco, Milton Cordero, Gabrielle Flores, Eddie Martinez and Gabe Ruiz.

After the readings, the evening will continue with a panel discussion facilitated by SolFest Producer Adriana Gaviria featuring the three featured playwrights and past SolFest playwrights, including Guadalís Del Carmen, Cusi Cram, Evelina Fernández, Darrel Alejandro Holnes and Karen Zacarías.

To register for SolFest and receive streaming links to view these works, visit the Sol Project's website at www.solproject.org. Because of the experimental and interactive nature of this year's festival, links will be emailed closer to the event dates. All events are free of charge.

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