Dr. Jorge Morejón, director of Maria Antonia.
By Desiree Seebaran
Female sexuality—and how it’s examined in art and media—is undergoing a kind of rediscovery. The controversial HBO hit series Girls is part of the new wave. Public outcry and discussion on major news networks about banning rape culture and slut shaming is another part.
And the final-year students of the University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine’s Theatre Arts programme have also picked up on the trend. Their 2013 final year production is an oldie, but explores the much debated and intensely modern theme of a woman’s insi
The class will present the Cuban play Maria Antonia at the Little Carib Theatre from April 4-7 and 12-14. Shows begin at 8 pm nightly, with Sunday shows starting at 6 pm.
“Maria Antonia takes place in a marginal neighborhood in Havana, Atares,” said Dr Jorge Morejón, the play’s director. “The students been able to establish parallels between the two cultures. The reality of Maria Antonia in the 1960s is not much different from the reality of today’s Cuba or Trinidad. Marginality is a culture in and of itself no matter where or in which timeframe it develops.”
A Cuban-American dance lecturer at UWI, St Augustine, Morejon is working with the students as both director and translator of the Cuban text, written in the 1960s by Eugenio Hernandez Espinosa. The class wanted to stretch themselves in Caribbean theatre, and choosing a play originally written in Spanish and Yoruba dialects seemed a good way to do that.
The cast is headed by Syntyche Bishop and Tafar Lewis, who share the role of Maria Antonia. Lewis is a veteran of the Secondary Schools Drama Festival and for three years has been a part of the cast of Seedrink, a local sketch comedy show on Gayelle. Bishop has made strong showings over the years at the Music Festival as part of the singing group
Suite Chorale and solo at various other singing competitions, so audiences can look forward to fierce and nuanced presentations of the black female lead. The feminist themes of the play have as much relevance today as they did when the play was first written, Morejón said. “Although women now have more opportunities to make intelligent choices about their future, their chances continue to be limited compared to those men have. Maria Antonia would have felt as trapped today as she feels in the world of the play. Poverty has its own cycle, which is often perpetuated by outer forces, such as the conditions of society, and inner ones such as lack of self-esteem, sense of powerlessness and hopelessness. These conditions continue to affect women when it comes to playing a more relevant role in today’s society,” he said.
• Tickets cost $100, with special discounts for tertiary and secondary school students. For more information, call 663-2222, e-mail mariaantoniauwi@gmail.com or follow the cast on Twitter @MariaAntoniaUWI
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