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"Ritos" to be performed
Spanish play to be presented as part of Gender Week activities
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
In celebration of Gender Week at UB and National Hispanic Month, the award-winning Spanish play "Ritos" ("Rituals") will be presented by the theater company of the Universidad de Granada, Spain, at 7 p.m. Sept. 25-26 in the Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
The award-winning Spanish play "Ritos" ("Rituals") will be presented Sept. 25-26 at UB.
The performances will be the capstone of a weeklong residency at UB by the Spanish theater company as part of a continuing exchange program between UB and the Universidad de Granada fostered by the International Artistic and Cultural Exchange Program (IACE) of the UB Department of Theatre and Dance.
IACE is a major sponsor of the performances and residency, as well as the Center for the Arts and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in the College of Arts and Sciences.
IACE fosters a better understanding of multicultural heritages by bringing artists of multicultural background from around the world to UB and Western New York, says Maria Horne, associate professor of theatre and dance and founding director of IACE. "In particular during the month of September, we look forward to raising awareness and celebrating both Gender Week at UB and the National Hispanic Month," she says, noting that last year IACE presented the Universidad de Costa Rica's production of "La Mujer que Cayo del Cielo." "The responses we received reflected a high need for this type of programming."
Written and directed by award-winning Spanish playwright Rafael Ruiz, "Ritos" is based on the author's personal life experiences and the works of Cesbran and Fernando Arrabal. It reflects on the role that rural Andalusian society has imposed on women for decades. It echoes through idioms uttered by women who dedicate their existence to the perpetuation of religious rituals.
"Ritos" received first prize in Spain's Mariana Pineda Women's Theatre Competition in 2001. The production comes directly from Spain following an acclaimed international tour.
The 45-minute play will be performed in Spanish and will be followed by a bilingual Q&A session with the author, director and cast.
Horne notes that although the Universidad of Granada company only has been in existence for several years, it already has developed a reputation for excellence, both in its native Granada and abroad.
Horne says that UB's delegation to the 12th International Theatre Festival, held last spring in Besançon, France, enjoyed a performance of "Ritos" by the Granada company and "immediately we thought about sharing this experience with our friends back in Buffalo."
IACE has a long tradition of conducting successful exchanges with Spanish theater groups—IACE presented "Don Juan Flamenco" at the Center for the Arts several years ago, and also hosted distinguished Spanish director Francisco Ortuno in a one-year residency—"so there is a lot of excitement around this upcoming residency," she adds.
In addition to the performances in the CFA, members of the Universidad of Granada company will engage in a variety of artistic, academic and cultural activities while in residency at UB from Sept. 22-28. These include lectures, master classes and an acting workshop for UB faculty members and students focusing on the richness and musicality of Spanish as spoken word. The workshop also will be offered to professional Western New York actors through the sponsorship of the Irish Classical Theatre Company.
The theater company's residency also will engage members of the Western New York community outside UB.
As part of IACE's Community Outreach Program and in collaboration with Antecesores, a local nonprofit Latino youth theater organization, performances of "Ritos" will be held for high school students at 10 a.m. Sept. 25-26 in the Black Box Theatre. A Q&A session with the author will be held following the performances, In addition, a pre-performance dramaturgical presentation is available for those students attending the production. It will include copies of the scripts, dramaturgical research on the author's life and his works, and Spanish vocabulary-builder lessons.
Additional sponsors of the performances and residency include Antecesores, Council on International Studies and Programs, the Department of English, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IREWG), International University Theatre Association, Irish Classical Theatre Company, James McNulty Chair in the Department of English, Melodia E. Jones Chair in French, Office of the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Office of the Vice Provost for International Education, Samuel P. Capen Chair in American Culture, Samuel P. Capen Chair in the Department of Philosophy, the Universidad de Granada, Spain, and David Gray Chair in Poetics.
Tickets for "Ritos" are free and the event is open to the public. Tickets will be available at the door one hour prior to the show.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.