Theater: Las Azurduy @ Brava theater // SF
La Lengua’s WORLD PREMIERE of Las Azurduy [las – Ah-soor-doo-ee] by Florencia Aroldi a commissioned play by La Lengua Teatro en Español.
Las Azurduy is about Juana Azurduy, a hero of Latin America’s wars of independence against the Spanish crown, a mixed-race woman of Indigenous descent who is only recently receiving her dues in the history books.
THE FIRST PLAY COMMISSIONED BY LA LENGUA In Spanish, Aymara, and Quechua with English and Spanish supertitles.
Location: Brava Theater in San Francisco.
Shows: August 19 (Preview), 20 (Opening), 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7 PM.
- Reservations, Masks & Vax Required.
Video:
Deborah Cortez of La Lengua Teatro en Español details how the love courage and persistence of Juana Azurduy has inspired her, and moved her in her performance.
Las Azurduy opens this weekend at Brava, grab a ticket and join us as we learn more about the fierce Juana Azurduy.
Tickets:
$25 general admission
$50 La Lengua supporter (priority seats)
$100 La Lengua mecenas (priority seats + 1 free drink).
Synopsis:
A journey into the mind of a female warrior minutes before her death. Her last battle is against oblivion. With an all-Latina cast, this play invokes the powerful figure of Juana Azurduy (July 12, 1780- May 25, 1862), a South American independence leader, whose courage, conviction, and spirit require three characters to recount her feats.
Las Azurduy is a story that celebrates the strength and power of female collective action and we are proud to be telling her story. We want to honor her and wish to inspire young people, especially young girls, to recognize their own strength and power that is very much needed to move our world forward to a bright and inclusive future.
Covid:
Brava has undertaken appropriate modifications to comply with health and safety protocols provided by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. These measures include requiring proof of vaccination, booster shot if eligible, and mandatory face covering that completely covers nose and mouth, secured with ear loops or head strap (gaiters and bandanas are not acceptable), increased cleaning before performances, and a no-touch or low-touch experience.
Read Brava’s full Covid Protocol here.
Background:
Juana Azurduy’s story is not as well-known as it should be. She was a Mestiza who behaved outside the parameters of what was expected from a woman in her time. She fought for her people’s independence from the Spanish crown in colonial times in the South American Viceroyaltyof the Río de la Plata.
Even though she and her troops won key battles, her victories were mostly forgotten.
Half of the South-American countries owe it to her to include her name in their pantheon of heroes as Founding Mother. But she was erased from the glory; nowadays, nobody even knows what she looked like.
Las Azurduy is an original play commissioned to Argentinian playwright Florencia Aroldi about Juana Azurduy, a hero of Latin America’s wars of independence against the Spanish crown, a mixed-race woman of Indigenous descent who is only recently receiving her dues in the historybooks.
This play is also an excuse to reflect on the invisibility of female work, on our silenced voices, and our erased faces. Juana Azurduy embodied the resilience and spirit of Latin American women, as well as the mix of cultural and ancestral heritage that typifies the American experience.
Today La Lengua clamors her name out loud for all to remember, and in Florencia Aroldi’s tour-de-force new play, it takes three performers to embody Azurduy’s complex and indomitable spirit – hence “Las Azurduy.”
This project involves an all- Latinx female ensemble, playwriting, and 90% Latinx creative team.
Playwright: Florencia Aroldi
Director: Eugenia Arbol
Cast: Deborah Cortez, Elena Estér, Carla Gallardo, Virginia Blanco, Elena Estér (Quechua Voice) and
Chana Mamani (Aymara Voice).
Stage Management: Dyana Diaz
Choreography: Diana Lara.
