CreArte Latino Cultural Center Presents MADENUSA Next Month

CreArte Latino Cultural Center presents the play, "MADENUSA," September 16-17, at 8 p.m., September 18 at 5 p.m., and October 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. Written by Claudia Soroka, "MADENUSA" is an amusing and fresh take on the immigrant experience that delves into the intricacies of adjusting to a different culture. The comedy is directed by Carolina Franco, president and artistic director of CreArte Latino Cultural Center. The play will be performed in Spanish with subtitles in English.

The playwright will attend the show on September 17 with a bilingual Q & A after the performance. Tickets are $20. To purchase tickets, visit www.creartelatino.org. CreArte Latino Cultural Center is at 8251 15th Street East, Airport Mall Plaza, Suite 1, Sarasota. The show is sponsored, in part, by a $3,000 grant from Bradenton Area Arts & Culture.

Mabel and Osvaldo, long-time residents of the USA, invite friends from Argentina for a visit. What happens when the world Mabel and Osvaldo left behind is suddenly back? With dexterity and sensitivity, Soroka has created an amusing play, fresh and engaging, that highlights the immigrant experience and delves into the intricacies of adjusting to a different culture. The story evokes time and time again the dilemma of those who left, as well as the impact of their decision on the ones who stayed behind. "MADENUSA" is an invitation to reflect and rejoice while remembering past choices and celebrating the freedom to make them.

Claudia Soroka emigrated to the U.S. in 1982, settling in Houston with her family. The playwright says that, as an immigrant, she has been able to "collect tons of observations that led me to writing this piece. With humor and sensitivity, I tried to explain different feelings in all four characters. I believe that anyone in the audience will be able to identify with one of them."

Soroka adds that it's important that "my text will be traveling and be interpreted, directed and performed by different groups to take a different shape within its own content. It's an energizing experience to see different casts and directors taking my play in their own hands and imaginations. It was a great surprise when I was approached by CreArte Latino just a year after the first production of 'MADENUSA' in my hometown, Houston. This is the first time I've given the performance rights to another theater company."

Soroka began working in theater in 1987 and, in 1995, co-founded Gente de Teatro, a Houston-based group whose mission is to make Latin American and Spanish plays more widely known. Since then, she continues to serve as executive director, acts in each of the company's productions, and has been writing plays since 2011.

This play, which will be performed in Spanish, marks CreArte's first time offering English subtitles. "Subtitles aren't available for every play, so it's a special occasion," says Carolina Franco. "It's always exciting to perform in our native language but this time the community at large can fully understand what's being said. That brings us joy and a whole new sense of welcoming; this play is perfect for that because it represents the different stages some Latinx/Hispanic immigrants experience. Personally, each character reminds me of emotions I've felt during my 18 years in the United States."

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