LUZMI
Written by Diana Burbano
Devised & Directed by Elisa Bocanegra
Luzmi is about a young woman who travels back to her birthplace of Colombia, a place she left as a child, to learn more about her family after her mother’s recent death. The play begins with a trip to the lush coffee-growing mountains of Colombia and follows her into the Amazon rainforest, where she searches for the answers to a dark secret her mother kept. Based on two research trips to the Amazon rainforest with Producing Artistic Director Elisa Bocanegra, the play educates audiences about the rich biodiversity of Colombia and the environmental injustices indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest face. The play will be presented in English and subtitled in Spanish.
October 3rd – October 27th at The Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts
Preview performance is Thursday, October 3rd at 8:00 p.m.
Opening night is Friday, October 4th at 8:00 p.m.
Remaining performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., and *Sundays at 2:00 p.m. through Sunday, October 27th.
*Sunday, October 13th’s performance will be at 5:00 p.m.
*Sunday, October 27th will have an additional performance at 7:00 p.m.
Luzmi marks the U.S. premiere of HERO Theatre and HERO Multimedia’s Nuestro Planeta, a new works commissioning initiative rooted in research around environmental justice issues happening in Latine countries and how Latine American families are directly affected.
Other commissions currently in the works with Nuestro Planeta include Brian Quijada (El Salvador), Teatro Akabal (Guatemala), and Phanesia Pharel (Haiti). Last fall, HERO Theatre presented Nuestro Planeta: Bahía Kino, a co-production with Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center in Bahía de Kino, Mexico. Luzmi is the second production for Nuestro Planeta, and the first presented in the U.S. Other areas included in Nuestro Planeta include Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and more.
After its successful workshop staged reading at New York Stage and Film in the summer of 2022, Nuestro Planeta: COLOMBIA, Luzmi will conclude HERO Theatre’s 2023-2024 season.
The research, development, and production of Luzmi is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, The MAP Fund, and Fulbright Colombia. Director Elisa Bocanegra received both a MAP Award and a Fulbright Award for environmental research in Colombia.
