Internationally renowned Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco‘s recent work, Tebas Land will have its Miami premiere when South Florida’s own Arca Images brings its production to the Miami-Dace County Auditorium (MDCA) from March 16 through 19. Presented in partnership with MDCA in the original Spanish, with simultaneous English translation. The play is inspired by the famous Greek Oedipus patricidal myth. It tells the story of a contemporary man accused of killing his own father, and his changing relationship with a writer who wants to create his own play-within-a-play about the murder.
Set on a prison basketball court, Tebas Land consists of a series of encounters between the two men – the accused and the playwright – that mine the tale of the crime and the questions of how this violence can be justly portrayed. The Miami production is an adaptation of the original, in collaboration with the writer, and with acclaimed Cuban-Spanish director Carlos Celdrán, Arca Images’ Alexa Kuve, and Miguel Torres from Madrid’s Teatro Lagrada, the co-producer in Spain.
The play has already been seen in Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Barcelona, London, Paris, Tokyo and many other cities, and received a British “Off-West End Award.” “It is a great honor to bring works of this caliber to our city, to work directly with its author, Sergio Blanco, and to collaborate once again with the director and our partner in Spain in bringing it to South Florida, and in September of this year, to Madrid,” said Alexa Kuve, Founding Executive and Producing Artistic Director of Arca Images.
Arca Images has been a leader in providing high quality, bilingual theater that is accessible to Miami’s diverse audiences. Using the Auditorium’s state-of-the art wireless headphone system for simultaneous translation, Tebas Land will be presented with bilingual actors voicing the English-language text. “Miami-Dade County Auditorium, located in Little Havana, strives to serve our community at large, and partnering with Arca for productions like these furthers our mission of making culture more accessible to Miami-Dade County residents and visitors alike,” said Javier Siut, Director of Programming, MDCA.
Playwright Sergio Blanco, now based in Paris, has been awarded several prizes for his other works, including the “National Drama Prize of Uruguay,” the “Drama Prize of the City of Montevideo,” and the “International Prize from Casa de las Americas.” Director Carlos Celdrán is a Cuban, Madrid-based writer and director, who won the “National Theater Award” of Cuba and founded the acclaimed Argos Theater company in Havana. He recently directed Arca Images’ world premiere production of Abismo. This production of Tebas Land in Miami stars actors Ariel Texidó and Daniel Romero.
