Caffeine Theatre presents the world premiere of Caridad Svich's new translation of Federico Garcia Lorca's "Dona Rosita, or The Language of Flowers," directed by Jennifer Shook. Now in its second season, Caffeine Theatre mines the poetic tradition to create language-intense, idea-driven performances and to explore the potential of art for social change.
This rarely-performed play by Lorca weaves a whimsical elegy to lost love and fleeting time. Rosita weathers a long engagement in the house of her flower-obsessed uncle, lace-obsessed aunt, and meddling housekeeper. As time passes, a stream of comic visitors reflects the technological advances of the early 20th-century, as well as the stagnant cultural attitudes that trap women in an unchanging society. The piece's poetry evokes a moment in time in a lost Granada. Director Jennifer Shook says the translation is "funny, painful, beautiful, and full of people who question the world demandingly even as they love the world passionately."
Performances run Oct. 21-Nov. 20: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The opening is Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. Performances take place at the Athenaeum, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Tickets are $12-15, available by contacting Ticketmaster at (312) 902-1500 or www.ticketmaster.com, or by visiting the Athenaeum Box Office. For more information, leave a message at (773) 561-7611 or visit www.caffeinetheatre.com. |
