|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
After a tumultuous 18 months, we could all use a break from reality and constant news cycles. Thankfully, Miami New Drama, a nonprofit professional theater company based at The Colony Theatre in Miami Beach, is our ticket to a temporary escape right in our backyard. The performance group has reopened the doors of the Colony Theatre with A Special Day, a magical and uplifting show FREE for the community playing until October 17, 2021. Described as “exhibiting the external power of hope,” this performance aspires to unite the community post-pandemic and attract past and new visitors to the theatre following months of isolation and lack of cultural activity.
Though first presented by Miami New Drama back in 2016, the consensus was that A Special Day should specifically return now, in a year when cultural, racial, and political tensions are at an all-time high amidst an unprecedented global pandemic. After all, the show transcends neighborhoods, skin color, and political boundaries.
Set in Mussolini’s Italy in 1938, this beautiful production tells the story of two neighbors and a chance encounter that radically changes their views on life, love, and politics as they forge a friendship over one unforgettable day. Performers use a piece of chalk and the
power of the imagination to create this award-winning bittersweet human drama that has
been performed in multiple theaters and renowned festivals around the world: New York, Miami, Edinburgh, and Singapore, among others.
The play was directed and is being performed by Ana Graham and Antonio Vega.
Ana Graham is a director, actor, translator, costume designer, and the Executive Director and Founder of the Mexico-based Por Piedad Teatro, where she has developed most of her work. Her past work includes Interiores (Interiors) by Woody Allen, Psicosis 4:48 (Psychosis 4.48), Ansia (Crave) by Sarah Kane, Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, and Terror by Ferdinand Von Schirach.
“After so many months of not being able to be on stage due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to be here at the beautiful Colony Theatre doing what we love,” said Graham. “It means the world to us to be able to share this story of love, friendship, and personal growth.”
“We are two Mexican actors pretending to be Italian, doing a show in English. That would be really weird if it weren’t because theater is all about imagination,” said Vega. “Let’s pretend we’re Italians, let’s pretend the theatre is an apartment building in Rome. Let’s pretend it’s 1938, Mussolini is in power, and Hitler is visiting today. Let’s pretend we’re happy about it, and then let us pose this question: is fascism a political regime or state of mind?”
“This is the theater of the imagination, the kind of theater that invites the audience to
actively participate and takes us on a journey that reminds us all why theater has existed for 3,000 years and why theater will continue to exist as long as humans inhabit the planet,” said Michel Hausmann, Co-founder and Artistic Director of Miami New Drama.
That’s not to say the other upcoming performances at the Colony Theatre won’t be just as riveting. In fact, the theatre is set to showcase four upcoming world-premiere shows, including A Wonderful World, When Monica Met Hillary, The Cuban Vote, and Papá Cuatro. These groundbreaking productions showcase the talents and triumphs of an array of award-winning artists. They are built on Miami New Drama’s commitment to artistic excellence and innovative work unique to the city’s diversity.
The performances of A Special Day will run until October 17th at the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in Miami. To get your FREE tickets go to www.miaminewdrama.org
