‘Vagina Monologues’ Playwright Tackles Climate Crisis In Show Coming To Miami Beach

The company of “Dear Everything” on stage at a sold-out performance at New York City’s Terminal 5. The show comes to the Miami Beach Bandshell for one performance on Sunday, Sept. 28. (Photo by Jenny Anderson)

Every day, our actions affect Mother Earth and influence the global climate. Dwelling on the future can oftentimes be bleak, making one want to scream. Or, in the case of author, activist, and Tony Award-winner V (formerly Eve Ensler), it makes her write empowering prose (and also scream).

V’s latest play about climate change is not a typical musical, it’s a musical uprising, according to the author.

“Dear Everything” is told in a somewhat folksy style with a narrator guiding the audience — as a cast of characters sings in between the narration. The show embarks on a North American tour this month with stops in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Miami.

V (who changed her name in 2019 to the mononym) will step into the role of narrator for the Miami performance on Sunday, Sept. 28 at the Miami Beach Bandshell.

Although “Dear Everything” premiered earlier this year at the Terminal 5 performance venue in New York City, the play itself has been in development for over five years. The year was 2020, “I was working on a bunch of stuff,” says V, “and (actress-singer) Idina Menzel and (songwriter) Justin Tranter approached me. They were thinking of writing something, but they didn’t even know what they wanted to do together. They were maybe doing an album, maybe a podcast, maybe a podcast story, and (they asked me if I) was interested in writing.”

Playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler) will take the stage as the narrator when her show comes to Miami Beach. (Photo by Jenny Anderson)

She told them only if it would be about climate change.

“Because that’s all I want to think about right now,” says V.

The collaborative process involved lots of working sessions between V and her musical counterparts. “We’d just start jamming words and lyrics,” says V. “They would just create music and songs… I had never worked on anything like that before in my life.”

To bring the production to life, V also worked with Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus; singer and songwriter Caroline Pennell; songwriter and music producer Eren Cannata; and orchestrator Daniel Crean.

What eventually resulted after many working sessions was a show titled “Wild” that premiered as a concert production at American Repertory Theater in 2021. After that performance, V took the story and reimagined it ever-so-slightly. Years later, it became “Dear Everything.”

While standard adjustments were made for “Wild” to become “Dear Everything, such as scene cuts and dialogue changes, the biggest evolution was its structure. It went from something traditional to something more disruptive, according Ensler.

“I love what it is now, because it’s not a musical, it’s a musical uprising,” V says with a mischievous smile speaking to Artburst via Zoom. “It’s like a narrated concert in a way.”

A successful writer and playwright, V explains that every piece of writing flows from her once she has a structure in place. Once she knows the form of what she’s trying to say, it all falls into place.

Actor Luke Ferrari with other members of the cast of  “Dear Everything” during a performance in New York City. (Photo by Jenny Anderson)

“How you tell stories is reflective of the story you’re telling,” she adds. “And when the show was a musical, it felt like we were doing a musical, but it wasn’t in line with the political dynamic we’re addressing in the show.”

Told through narration and pop rock/folk songs, “Dear Everything” follows a group of adults who are willing to tear down their town’s forest for money. The town’s young people, led by the character of Sophia, work to save the forest and change the hearts of the adults.

V adds how “Dear Everything” highlights the current struggles society faces today being in between “what we know to be true about the future and how people are going to survive in the now.” This conflict is what drives the storyline along.

Atlanta-based Maya Penn, climate activist and poster designer for “Dear Everything,” sees a lot of herself in the main character of Sophia. V and Penn first crossed paths nearly a decade ago in Atlanta while the author was on a book tour. The then 11-year-old Penn was in attendance for the book signing and was already an eager young changemaker.

“She was just so awake,” recalls V about meeting Penn, her eyes lighting up at the memory. “Awake to issues, awake to the earth, awake to sustainability… I just wanted to know her. I wanted to be her friend.”

“We were instantly kindred spirits,” Penn adds.

Since their fateful first meeting, Penn has been involved with V’s non-profit movement V-Day and now she serves as the youngest board member for the organization.

Penn explains how the various characters on stage all have their own micro storylines that intersect in some way — much like in real life. “These characters are still people going through their own struggles and have their own hopes and dreams, all in the midst of all of this crazy stuff happening to their community… ‘Dear Everything’ really shows how the bravest thing that you can do is care and feel deeply,” adds Penn.

Actor Paravi plays Sophia, a Gen-Z who fights to save her local forest, in “Dear Everything.” (Photo by Jenny Anderson)

The show is very youth-driven, according to the creator as the young characters on stage step into their power as activists. The show’s creators hope that what audiences see on stage will inspire them to also get involved in their community. As part of each performance on the tour, the Dear Everything Youth Council will have an information table for those wanting to learn how to get started in being a catalyst for climate change.

“Speaking from a Gen-Z perspective, something I see a lot is how a side effect of caring too much is that we all shut down because of trauma and exhaustion. But art is that tool that can reawaken people’s emotions in a way that they can help their community and give back to the earth,” the 25-year-old Penn continues.

“One of the best things about this whole ‘Dear Everything’ experience has been that it’s felt like there are all these miracles happening around it,” says V.

The writer recalls a wintertime rehearsal in a closed theater where one of her characters was on stage singing about extinction. In that moment, a swallowtail butterfly flew into the scene and landed on the actor’s shoulder. That same butterfly appeared every day during rehearsal.

“I said to my friend that the day we open, that butterfly is going to die,” recalls V. On opening night, the butterfly flew down for the last time. V took the insect home and framed it as a reminder of the miracle that is Mother Earth.

The playwright’s hope for “Dear Everything” is simple: “I hope people fall in love with the Earth,” says V. “I hope they come to understand that the Mother gives us everything… and if people wake to her, and wake to serve her, everything will change.”

WHAT: “Dear Everything” written by V (formerly Eve Ensler)

WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33141

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28.

COST: $35 general admission, $25 for students.

INFORMATION: (786) 453-2897 or deareverythingonstage.org.

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Miami Beach Pin-Up Photographer Profiled in Local Filmmakers’ Documentary

Miami Beach artist, model, photographer, feminist pioneer and icon Bunny Yeager is the subject of Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch’s movie “Naked Ambition” opening in South Florida on Friday, Sept. 26. (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

She became known at one point in her career as “The World’s Prettiest Photographer.” But the accomplishments of Bunny Yeager – the Miami Beach artist, model, feminist pioneer and icon – can’t be summed up with one simple, reductive label.

“Naked Ambition,” the exhilarating new documentary by South Florida based co-directors Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch, explores the life and work of Yeager, a married mother of two who began her career as a model, then progressed to walking up to random women and asking them to pose for her.

Her snaps – as well as the photos in which she appeared –  combined a virginal view of domestic goddesses who were also wellsprings of teenage rebellion. They also accomplished everything from popularizing bikinis to creating the idea of the modern-day selfie.

Among Bunny Yeager’s models was the notorious Bettie Page, who met Yeager during a visit to Miami Beach. (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

Among her models was the notorious Bettie Page, the S&M photo star who met Yeager during a visit to Miami Beach and became one of her most popular subjects, including a “Playmate of the Month” stint in 1955 in Playboy magazine (Yeager snapped that picture as well).

“There’s something inherently female about the way she sees her models,” says Hollywood actress and screenwriter Guinevere Turner about Yeager in the film, which opens in Miami on Friday, Sept. 26 at O Cinema Miami Beach,  Coral Gables Art Cinema, and Cinema Paradiso Hollywood.

By the time of her death at age 85 in 2014, Yeager had become one of the most influential and famous photographers in the world. Her photos – convivial images of women, often topless, caught in a joyful, sunny mood – have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.

“Naked Ambition” is the second collaboration between Scholl, the former president/CEO of Oolite Arts, and Tabsch, co-founder of the art film haven O Cinema, who are both established filmmakers.

The duo previously co-directed the 2018 documentary “The Last Resort,” a tribute to the work of photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe, which doubled as an eloquent history of Miami Beach and its 1970s heyday as a haven for fun-loving retirees from around the nation.

Bunny Yeager was as comfortable in front of the camera as she was behind it.  (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

“Naked Ambition” is also another tale of the history of Miami Beach, where Yeager began photographing her models because she didn’t have a studio.

The pictures contributed greatly to the international appeal of Miami Beach as what Larry King (interviewed before his death) describes in the film as a “busting-loose, devil-may-care, let-it-all happen place” in the 1950s and 60s. But the sandy beaches also served as an inspiration for Yeager.

“There is a particular gaze through which Bunny looked at her models,” said Tabsch. “It was the beauty of nudity and the female form and embracing the risqué aspect of that. That’s a different lens than a super-sexed one. A lot of her models were reluctant because of the stigma of posing nude.”

Tabsch said Yeager  offered a safe haven for her subjects.

For the most part, hardcore porn lacks an artistic lens, and that’s why Bunny’s work is timeless,” Tabsch said. “She was embracing nudity instead of telling her models ‘I just want you to be the hot chick. “That’s part of what makes her work interesting. It was avant-garde for its time’”

Filmmakers Kareem Tabsch, left, and Dennis Scholl will discuss their film “Naked Ambition” at Coral Gables Art Cinema and O Cinema during it opening weekend in South Florida. (Photo courtesy of the filmmakers)

“Naked Ambition” took three years to complete, although Scholl said the gestation period was much longer than that. He first approached Yeager with the idea 13 years ago, and she politely declined.

But Scholl never gave up.

“I am nothing if not persistent,” said Scholl. “In 2014, she finally said ‘Let’s do it.’ She was going to come into the studio to be interviewed on a Thursday morning at 10 a.m. They called to postpone. Then at four o’clock in the afternoon, they called to say that she had been taken to the hospital; 10 days later she died.”

Scholl put the film on the shelf and didn’t think about it for four years. But after the national theatrical release of “The Last Resort,” someone asked what he was going to do next.

“In business, I’ve learned you never say, ‘I don’t know.’ Kareem and I had such a good time working together, I asked him if he wanted to do another one. We started and then COVID came. But we stuck with it.”

“Naked Ambition” showcases more than 300 of Yeager’s photos – culled from more a thousand. They are curated in a way that allows the viewer to experience Yeager’s career from beginning to end and show how her style, subjects, and sensibilities evolved over time.

At one point in her career, Bunny Yeager was known as “The World’s Prettiest Photographer.” She went on to make history as one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. (Photo courtesy of Music Box Films)

“To shape the arc of the film, we thought in terms of both the phases of her career and her shifting role as a woman living in Miami from the late 1940s through the early 2010s,” said “Naked Ambition” editor Dia Kontaxis, professor at the Department of Cinematic Arts and associate dean for Research and Creative Activity at the University of Miami.

“We traced her beginnings as a young model, inventing herself as an artist, through the explosion of pin-up work in the 1950s and ’60s, to the decline of the genre during the era of sexual liberation and the rise of mass-market magazines. Finally, we explored the period when people began rediscovering her work and reframing her legacy,” said Kontaxis.

The result is a frank, warm and hugely entertaining film that celebrates a style of photography more often treated as kitsch than serious, timeless art.

“She believed she was doing something artistic, and she was,” said Scholl. “She is a museum artist. When she died, she was on the front page of the New York Times. She went on Johnny Carson. She was a huge star, but those times were so different.”

WHAT: “Naked Ambition”

WHEN:  Opens Friday, Sept. 26.

WHERE: O Cinema South Beach, 1130 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, and Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, and Cinema Paradiso Hollywood, 2008 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

TICKETS: Prices vary by location

INFORMATION:  www.o-cinema.org,  www.gablescinema.com and www.cinemahollywood.org

Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch will participate in post-screening discussions at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27 and 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28 at Coral Gables Art Cinema and at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27 at O Cinema.  

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Miami’s Circus School in Allapattah Puts On A Show

Experience all the ways performer Milena Straczynski can use a hotel luggage cart in “In the Heart of Miami.”  The Les Ailes du Désir Foundation (LADD), which trains aerial and circus performers, has its Soirée des Arts on Sunday, Sept. 21, at the Manuel Artime Theater. (Photo by Victor Jaramillo)

The circus is coming to Miami. Actually, the circus is in Miami. The Les Ailes du Désir Foundation (LADD), which trains aerial and circus performers, has been operating out of Allapattah since 2017.

Founded by former dancer-turned-financer Claudine Choquette, the nonprofit is dedicated to training performers in the circus arts. Choquette first moved to Miami in 2004 from London. While her career shifted to business, her passion remains in the arts.

Its teaching programs mainly skews for children under the age of 18 but they also offer classes for adults all led by circus professionals. Many of their students have gone on to perform professionally – with Cirque de Soleil, The 7 Fingers contemporary circus show, based in Montreal, and Dragone – while some return to LADD as instructors.

LADD’s upcoming Soirée des Arts is taking place Sunday, Sept. 21, at the Manuel Artime Theater.

This year’s theme and performance title is “In the Heart of Miami,” giving a nod to LADD’s home turf.  The annual showcase is an opportunity for both students and LADD instructors to share a new or old piece in front of a live audience. It’s another chance to perform on a stage.

Marcela Duarte performs the hair suspension: a form of aerial acrobatics where the hair is tightly braided and secured to a special rig. Watch her spin, hang and perform other feats “In the Heart of Miami.” (Photo by Victor Jaramillo)

As part of “In the Heart of Miami,” there are choreographed pieces, a new aerial pole duo act, a hair suspension artist, a flying hotel luggage cart act, and an entertaining emceeing. Audiences will be treated to performances by the best in the game — from Cirque du Soleil performers to Olympians to former America’s Got Talent participants, and, of course, current LADD instructors.

Dancer Milena Straczynski, who has been with LADD since its inception, is one of the school’s instructors. However, for “In the Heart of Miami,” she’s wearing multiple hats: performer and the show’s creative director.

Born in Moscow, Straczynski moved to Miami when she was 10 years old. She was a ballet dancer and choreographer before she fell into the circus. She first discovered the circus arts performing scene through her now husband, an aerialist who performs with Cirque du Soleil. “I strayed into the whole circus world and became an aerialist and my husband, Hampus (Jansson), and I started working together and creating together.”

Straczynski finds working with LADD fulfills her creativity. She volunteers her time as an instructor at the school.

“It’s important to contribute to the community even if you don’t make any money with it. For me, the work is more about bringing the community together. Art is so important for everyone — for families, for dreamers, for children who want to grow up and be singers, dancers, or even circus performers.”

As the title suggests, “In the Heart of Miami” is structured as a bit of an homage to the Magic City. In her role as creative director, Straczynski ensures each performance flows neatly into the next – and they all tie back to Miami.

Teresa Cesario is the emcee for LADD. She’s been with the group since its founding in 2017. (Photo by
Victor Jaramillo)

“Miami is an eclectic city, a world of cultures, and a lot of people have come here from different places and made Miami their home,” says Straczynski. “A lot of people in the cast share a similar story… I feel like within the cast it really does feel like we’re a little family that comes together and performs what we love for the people. The audience will be able to feel that energy.”

While the aerialists will be a sight to see, the emcee of the evening is meant to be equally as charming.

The self-appointed mouthpiece for LADD, Teresa Cesario has been hosting nearly all of their events since the nonprofit originated. A singer and actor herself, she understands the value of the arts and the awe-inspiring nature of the circus arts.

“I really love telling people that I’ve run away to the circus,” says Cesario.

Cesario first met Straczynski and her husband while they were performers at the former El Tucán nightclub in Brickell where Cesario herself worked as an event host. Straczynski one day approached the emcee and told her about LADD.

“She brought me in and I’ve been their mouthpiece ever since,” says Cesario.

Performers of the Les Ailes du Désir Foundation (LADD), which trains
aerial and circus performers, take a bow at a past show. (Photo by Victor Jaramillo)

Although she’s not a circus performer, she reveals she’s tried a few of the adult classes at LADD and admits they’ve been harder than anything one would find at a traditional gym. “It’s amazing all the things you do as a circus performer, it’s not a traditional fitness… you don’t realize the physical exertion that these performers are doing when you’re watching circus arts.”

And there’s one other layer, she says, that adds to the mastery.

“They’re doing this while wearing bedazzled outfits and spinning from their hair. To me, it’s one of the most incredible sights to see what the human body is capable of,” shares Cesario.

WHAT: Les Ailes du Désir Foundation’s Soirée des Arts: In the Heart of Miami

 WHERE: Manuel Artime Theater,  900 SW 1st St., Miami

 WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21.

 COST: $25 general admission, $10 for children and seniors. Tickets via eventbrite.com.

 INFORMATION: (786) 478-5891 or laddmiami.org.

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

International Hispanic Theater Festival Lives On With Full Slate of Plays

“Magallanes,” inspired by an episode from the life of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, is a production by the Chilean group Tryo Teatro Banda playing Sept. 19, 20, and 21 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts Carnival Studio Theatre as part of this year’s International Hispanic Theater Festival. (Photo courtesy of Tryo Teatro Banda, Chile)

The 39th edition of the International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami concluded its first weekend but there are still three more weekends to go until the closing night Sunday, Sept. 28.

It is the first year that the festival has been presented without Mario Ernesto Sánchez —  he founded the International Hispanic Theater Festival under the auspices of his Teatro Avante in 1986. Sánchez passed away on April 10, at the age of 78, after a long illness.

This is also the first time the festival has been staged in September, not in July as usual, due to renovations at the Adrienne Arsht Center required adjusting the dates of the program.

Sánchez’s legacy lives on. Since the festival’s opening on Thursday, Sept. 4, nine productions by six groups from Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States, Venezuela/USA, and Mexico, are presenting programs at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts’ Carnival Studio Theatre, Westchester Cultural Arts Center, Koubek Center Theatre, and Biscayne Community Center.

The performances of “Lear” on Sept. 25, 26, 27, and 28 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts Carnival Studio Theatre will be preceded by “UMPA! La voz presente,” a tribute to the Festival’s late founder and director, Mario Ernesto Sánchez. (Photo by Julio de la Nuez, courtesy of Teatro Avante).

Beatriz Risk continues to lead the event’s Educational Program, which includes discussions at the end of each premiere performance. The Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts Award will be presented to artistic consultant Olga Garay-English on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Carnival Studio Theatre.

Neher Jacqueline Briceño and Melissa Messulam, of Conecta Miami Arts, two individuals who have already earned their places in the South Florida theater scene, are now at the helm of the Festival.

In fact, the program closes with “Lear,” directed by Briceño, inspired by Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Each of these four performances will open with a tribute to Sánchez under the title “UMPA! The Present Voice”.

Between Thursday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 7, the festival presented “Las Delicadas Lágrimas de la Luna menguante” (“The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon”), a production by the Chicago-based Venezuelan group Water People Theater, and “Viento Blanco” (“White Wind”), by the Argentine company Teatro Futuro.

The following is the lineup for the next three weekends. All the shows will be performed in Spanish. Only “Lear” will be presented with supertitles in English.

From Spain, specifically from Cádiz, comes “Palaboda,” a comedy starring Susana Rosado and Jay García playing Sept. 12 to 14 at the Koubek Center Theater. *(Photo courtesy of La Tirana Producciones)

“El Brote” (“The Outbreak”), Argentina

8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 11, Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13, Carnival Studio at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

A one-man show, featuring Roberto Peloni, who plays the character of an actor who begins to confuse reality with fiction. As a result, he starts to distrust “those who write him.” A play written and directed by Emiliano Dionisi, from the Buenos Aires-based Teatro del Pueblo.

“Los Que Sobran” (“The Ones That Are Left Over”), Mexico

8:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13, 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 14, Westchester Cultural Arts Center.

Five young people who met during their teens have become life partners. This is, as per the program, “a story of friendship, youth, humor, rebellion, courage, passion, violence, cruelty, survival, and love.” Written and directed by Adrián Vásquez, the cast features Fátima Favela, Quetzalli Cortes, Lariza Juárez, Paula Zepeda, Mónica Vega, and Iván Carbajal.

The Madrid-based group La Belloch Teatro brings to the Festival “Protocolo,” a play written by Cuban Abel González Melo and performed by Beatriz Argüello and Ernesto Arias. It will be on show Sept. 19, 20, and 21 at the Westchester Cultural Arts Center. (Photo courtesy of La Belloch Teatro)

 “Palaboda,” Spain

5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13, 8:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 14, Koubek Center Theatre.

In this comedy by Rocío Sepúlveda, Juan Sebastián Domínguez, and La Tirana, directed by the latter, Begoñita wants to marry Juanmanué, but he is not excited about the prospect. While she’s hoping for a grand ceremony, he refuses to even wear a ring because he wants, quote, “it all over soon so I can go fishing.” Featuring Susana Rosado and Jay García.

“Magallanes,” Chile 

8:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20, 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 21, Carnival Studio at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Acting and music in the style of ancient minstrelsy blend in this show by Tryo Teatro Banda and Francisco Sánchez, directed by Sánchez and Eduardo Irrazábal. Disease and misery are the main obstacles to the expedition on which the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan attempts to reach the Spice Islands (or Morujas Islands) in eastern Indonesia.

“Protocolo,” Spain

8:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20, 5 p.m., Sept. 21, Westchester Cultural Arts Center

A Cuban playwright based in Spain, Abel González Melo, authored the piece, which the Madrid-based group La Belloch Teatro brings to the festival, featuring performances by Beatriz Argüello and Ernesto Arias. According to the program, it is “a shocking human map where civic duty collides with intimacy.”

For International Children’s Day, the Festival brings “Comicópicos” from Buenos Aires, created and performed by Osqui Guzmán and Leticia González de Lellis. It will run on Sept. 20 at the Key Biscayne Community Center, and the following day at the Koubek Center Theater, both with free admission. (Photo courtesy of Compañía Fugaz of Argentina)

“Comicopicos,” (Argentina)

5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, Key Biscayne Community Cetner, 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 21, Koubek Center Theater, both with free admission.

In its traditional celebration of International Children’s Day, the Festival brings the Fugaz Company from Argentina with two performances of “Comicopicos” by Osqui Guzmán and Leticia González de Lellis. The idea is to interact not only with children but also with adults. The Koubek Center performance is preceded from 2 to 5 p.m. by face painting, stilt walkers, snacks, and carnival games and painting, puppetry, dance, and percussion workshops from 3 to 4 p.m.

From left, Claudia Tomás, Julio Rodríguez, Laura Alemán, Claudia Valdés, and Daniel Romero in the play “Lear,” written and directed by Neher Jacqueline Briceño, one of the current directors of the International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami, inspired by the Shakespeare classic. (Photo by Bert Ochoa, courtesy of Teatro Avante).

 “Lear” (USA)

8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 25, Friday, Sept. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 5 p.m., Sept. 28, in Spanish with English supertitles, Carnival Studio Theater in Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Neher Jacqueline Briceño, one of the festival’s directors, wrote this piece based on Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” It features Julio Rodríguez, Claudia Valdés, Claudia Tomás, Laura Alemán, and Daniel Romero. The four performances are preceded by “UMPA! La voz presente,” a tribute to the memory of Mario Ernesto Sánchez featuring Alina Interián, Marilyn Romero, Gerardo Riverón, and Yani Martín.

WHAT: 39th International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami, featuring nine performances by six companies from Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States, Venezuela/USA, and Mexico.

 WHERE: Westchester Cultural Arts Center, 7930 SW 40th St. (Tropical Park), Miami; Koubek Center Theatre, 2705 SW 3rd St., Miami; Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami; and Key Biscayne Community Center, 10 Village Green Way, Key Biscayne.

WHEN: Through Sunday, Sept. 28

COST: $32.96 and $35.10 (includes fees)

INFORMATION:  www.teatroavante.org/programa2025

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

New to Miami, NVISION Festival Zooms in on Latin American Cinema

Sebastián Lelio’s “La Ola,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, will screen at the NVISION Latino Film and Music Festival at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Silverspot Cinema in downtown Miami. (Photo by Diego Araya)

A new player is joining Miami’s film festival scene, and it’s showing a spotlight on cinema from across Latin America.

Taking over Silverspot Cinema in downtown Miami on Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 6, NVISION Latino Film and Music Festival will showcase and celebrate movies and creators from across the Latin world. With a program including nine feature films, 10 shorts, and seven panels on subjects such as music scoring and film production financing, the event is a one-stop shop for anyone looking for inspiration and insight.

The festival is the brainchild of photographer Danny Hastings, who has shot some of the most iconic rap album covers of all time for the likes of Nas, Eminem, and Wu-Tang Clan. Hastings, who was born in California to Panamanian and Mexican parents and lived in Panama until he was 16, started the festival as a way to address the lack of Latin representation in the film industry.

“I knew that there were some challenges that we were facing, and I felt like maybe the community was feeling the same way I was feeling. So I created the festival in 2015 to try to solve that problem,” he says.

Mexican pop singer Kenia OS will host a Q&A at NVISION following the screening of the concert film “Kenia OS: La OG” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. (Photo courtesy of NVISION)

Originally known as the Official Latino Film and Arts Festival, the festival launched in 2015 in New York and focused on short films. It moved to Palm Springs, Calif., five years later, coaxed by investment from the neighboring city of Coachella and by a less competitive environment. A rebranding to NVISION came last year – the festival’s 10th anniversary – along with a new partnership with music producer and entrepreneur Lex Borrero, who convinced them to come to Miami.

Borrero, who heads up the music management firm NEON16, is also the main force behind the festival’s increased emphasis on Latin music. The opening night presentation, the concert film “Kenia OS: La OG,” focuses on a superstar of Mexican pop music. A question-and-answer session with Kenia follows the film on Friday night.

Music is also a prominent theme in the festival’s other centerpiece, “La Ola” (“The Wave”). Directed by Sebastián Lelio, who won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for “A Fantastic Woman” in 2018, the film is a musical inspired by a series of feminist protest actions in Chile in 2018 that has been compared to the #MeToo Movement in the United States. It follows Julia, a student at a performing arts university in Santiago, who unwittingly becomes a central figure in a feminist protest that explodes on campus.

Lelio says he was interested in making a movie musical because of the challenges it presents, such as the fact that the stage musical genre is not as common in the Spanish-speaking world as it is in the United States.

Sebastián Lelio’s “La Ola” is the closing night film for NVISION on Saturday, Sept. 6. The director will host a Q&A session after the screening. (Photo by Diego Araya)

“Here (in Chile), women, when they protest, they combine rights and celebration in a certain way. So it felt like a really natural territory for a musical to develop,” says Lelio. “And then as a filmmaker, I love cinema and I’m interested in many genres, but in this case, I think what was more appealing to me was precisely the risk of combining contemporary politics and political themes and challenges with the splendor and the scale and the dreamlike quality that a musical requires. I thought that that contradiction was really interesting to walk through, to try to survive it, and to try to think about what happened to all of us after the Feminist May.”

The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. NVISION is hosting its North American premiere, an honor typically reserved for larger events such as the Toronto International Film Festival or the New York Film Festival. Lelio will be in Miami to show the film and participate in a post-screening question and answer session.

“They invited us and we accepted, it’s as simple as that,” says Lelio. “I’m looking forward to showing the film there, since there is such a big Latino community, and seeing how it’s received.”

“Pavilhão,” a short film from Brazil, will screen at NVISION, at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. (Photo courtesy of NVISION)

Other films in the NVISION lineup include “Esta Isla,” a crime drama set in Puerto Rico; “Serious People,” following a music video director in Los Angeles torn between work and missing the birth of his child; “Cuerpo Celeste,” a coming-of-age film set during the waning years of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile; and “The Wailing,” a horror film set between Argentina and Spain. Shorts such as “Pavilhão” from Brazil and “Papota” from Argentina will also screen in blocks and ahead of features.

(See the full schedule here.)

Such a diverse list of films from around Latin America speaks to the potential that NVISION hopes to unleash in its new home. Hastings says that the move to Miami will enable the festival to reach a true plurality of Latin demographics, avoiding the regional tendencies of both Southern California, where Mexican and Central American nationalities dominate culturally, and New York, which favors Caribbeans.

“Miami got everybody, you know what I mean?” he says. “I feel like the festival is going to feel like home. I feel like we’re going to be able to offer the international community an easier place to come in and visit and hang out with us. It’s only a hop and a skip, from Colombia, from Mexico, from everybody.”

“Papota,” a short film from Argentina, will screen at NVISION on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 1:30 p.m. (Photo courtesy of NVISION)

Hastings also says that Miami is more accessible than where the festival previously played and that is already making a difference.

“To try to get to (California) from Argentina, was (like) traveling half of the world, you know? So coming to Miami, it’s more accessible, and it’s already showing proof in that a lot of those filmmakers are coming to the festival.”

WHAT: NVISION Latino Film and Music Festival

 WHEN: Various times on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6. Check the full schedule.

 WHERE: Silverspot Cinema, 300 SE 3rd St., Miami

 COST: $49.99 for one day passes; $84.99 for two-day passes; $129.99 for VIP two-day passes

 INFORMATION: nvisionfestival.com

 ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Urban Film Festival Paves Way For Aspiring Filmmakers, World Premieres

A scene from the movie “Water Girl,” featuring actors Moriyah Faith Jackson (Kamsi) and Oliver Haeden. The movie will be screened at the Urban Film Festival on Saturday, Aug. 30. All screenings are free.  (Photo courtesy of Florida Film House)

The 10th Annual Urban Film Festival (UFF) brings three days of film screenings, master classes, and networking events to Miami. 

The festival, founded in 2015 by Florida Film House co-founder Marco (Mall) Molinet, was created to highlight urban storytelling after he found that Black filmmakers were underrepresented at traditional film festivals.

“I launched the Urban Film Festival because we saw a gap for filmmakers telling raw, independent urban stories,” says Molinet. “Florida Film House submitted our work to several festivals that we believed aligned with our message; none accepted us. It was clear there was a void in the industry for our kind of storytelling.”

“I launched the Urban Film Festival because we saw a gap for filmmakers telling raw, independent urban stories,” says Marco (Mall) Molinet, Florida Film House co-founder. (Photo courtesy of Florida Film House)

All film screenings, workshops and discussions are free admission.

This year’s schedule includes narrative and documentary features, shorts, and international projects from professional filmmakers, in addition to youth showcases and educational panels.

Some of the highlights of the lineup include Nnamdi Kanaga’s “Water Girl,” which will be screened on Saturday, Aug. 30. The film was an official selection at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) in 2025. A supernatural drama rooted in Nigerian mythology set in Montana. The film’s plot concerns the joys of motherhood overshadowed by agony when lead character Nkechi discovers that her daughter, Kamsi, is bound to the cyclical existence of the Ọgbanje—a spirit child trapped in the maze of life, death, and rebirth. 

“Smiling with a Stranger,” director Diamos D’Merit Demerritt’s film set in Miami, is getting its world premiere at UFF.  Detroit-based Grand Rising Productions is bringing its film “The Return of the Mack,” which received Best in Fest at the 2025 Virginia Black Film Festival.  Set in Detroit, a man released from struggles to rebuild his life only to discover his daughter’s involvement in a human trafficking operation. 

A scene from “The Return of the Mack,” featuring actress Ebony Tate and Detroit-born actor, executive producer, and filmmaker Dejuan Ford. The film will be screened at this year’s Urban Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Florida Film House).

While giving a platform for Black filmmakers, the festival has evolved into an educational and professional resource for aspiring filmmakers. Through workshops, master classes, and programs like the 1st Take Youth Film Program, the festival aims to provide a hands-on learning environment where young creatives can develop their skills and explore opportunities in the film industry.

 “We’ve helped filmmakers launch careers, secure distribution, and build industry relationships,” says Molinet, describing UFF as a platform that supports Black and urban creatives from youth development through professional growth in the film industry.

UFF was first held in 2015 in Historic Overtown. According to organizers, it attracted more than 1,500 participants during its inaugural year and was named a Top Ten First-Year Festival by Withoutabox, an online platform that once helped filmmakers submit their work to festivals worldwide before shutting down in 2019. The festival now reports, according to Molinet, an average of 3,000 attendees each year and screens close to 200 films. 

This year, in addition to film screenings, the festival includes master classes, industry panels, and networking events. A new screening location will be Silverspot Cinemas, which offers IMAX screens, among others. The addition is intended to enhance the viewing experience for filmmakers while maintaining the festival’s base in Overtown.

A party scene in young actor-director Kamal Anibello’s short film “Shelle” with actors Leilah Star, left, and Issac Francois. (Photo courtesy of Kamal AniBello)

“Filmmakers deserve to see their work on the best possible stage, and we’re giving them that without ever forgetting where we came from,” says Molinet.

The festival remains focused on youth and emerging filmmakers. Through the 1st Take Youth Film Program, UFF has worked with 150 to 200 students this year. Participants come from nine partner organizations, including Overtown Youth Center, Touching Miami with Love, Honey Shine, Mexican American Council, Skill Society, Carter Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Club of Broward. The students’ work, which includes documentaries, short narratives, and music videos, will be showcased during the festival.

“We believe in investing early,” says Molinet. “By focusing on youth, we’re not just creating filmmakers. We’re building leaders, entrepreneurs, and storytellers who can change the narrative for their communities.”

“The next great filmmaker is already out there,” Molinet adds. “They just need access and mentorship.”

One notable UFF alumnus, Kamal AniBello, credits the festival’s educational focus with helping him move from acting roles in films such as “Moonlight” and television series “David Makes Man” to directing his own short films.

AniBello recalls his time attending the Urban Film Festival and “being in the crowd of kids learning from all these amazing producers and filmmakers that would be invited to speak.” “From that experience, I told myself I had to be on that stage.”

From left, Marco “Mall” Molinet, movie producer, director and founder of Florida Film House; Allen Maldanado, actor and writer; Tressa Smallwood; author, filmmaker and CEO of MegaMind. Romeo (Lil’ Romeo) Miller, rapper and actor. and Kham Ward, founder and CEO of BLK Men in Tech, at a previous edition of the Urban Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Florida Film House)

He eventually got on “that stage.” Now he comes, not just as an actor but also a director. His latest short film, “Shelle,” is scheduled to screen during this year’s festival. It is inspired by his mother, a burn survivor, and explores the idea that resilience can stem from visible and invisible scars. The project follows his first film, “Pound Cake.”

“It’s a blessing honestly, I never saw this route for myself. This means a lot, just another testament to keep exploring this route that Jesus keeps opening for me,” says the young actor-director who credits UFF’s emphasis on professionalism and preparedness for helping him balance acting and directing.

AniBello has recently portrayed Commissioner Kionne McGhee in the feature film “The Reject.” The Liberty City teen says he approached the role by researching McGhee’s work and translating the story into a performance that felt personal. “I did it as myself but allowed his story to be my story and live through that in real time as we shot.”

For emerging filmmakers, AniBello advises creating their own projects. “One day I just didn’t feel like waiting for someone to see my value or talent. So, I started writing. Then creating. Then ultimately started to end up at the same tables I was overlooked at just with my own power,” he says.

Kamal AniBello, one notable UFF alumnus, credits the festival’s educational focus with helping him move from acting roles in films such as “Moonlight” and television series “David Makes Man” to directing his own short films, “Shelle,” and “Pound Cake.” (Photo courtesy of Slingshot Photography)

Another young filmmaker connected to UFF is Kyla Holmes, whose film “The Pad Hustle” was featured at last year’s festival. The short, which addresses period poverty, or the lack of access to safe and hygienic menstrual products, was developed through Black Girls Film Camp and screened as part of UFF’s programming.

“I was extremely happy to see my team and I’s hard work being displayed on the big screen,” says Holmes. “It was a point in my life that made me realize all of the amazing things I am capable of accomplishing if I put my mind to it.”

Following her positive experience, she joined the festival’s educational initiative as an instructor. Holmes will not showcase a new film at this year’s event, but she contributed to the student projects that will be presented. Her focus has been on helping younger filmmakers understand the production process and build their technical skills.

“As a high school graduate, being able to teach kids about film has been the highlight of my days. Not only have we worked hands-on with film equipment but just seeing the creativity these kids have at such a young age was mind-blowing,” she says, adding that teaching the kids about film helped her embrace and gain confidence in herself.

“Being involved in UFF and 1st Take has significantly boosted my confidence in public speaking, particularly when it comes to teaching kids. It makes me feel more professional in my field of film directing, as I am able to share my knowledge and experiences with eager learners,” says Holmes.

Young filmmaker Kyla Holmes, whose film “The Pad Hustle” was featured at last year’s festival. Following her positive experience, she joined the festival’s educational initiative as an instructor. (Photo courtesy of Florida Film House)

The 18-year old is scheduled to begin film studies at Columbia College Chicago in the fall, where she received a full-tuition scholarship.

The festival is free to attend, supported by the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and various local organizations.

Molinet emphasizes that accessibility remains at the heart of the festival’s mission. “Offering the festival for free ensures accessibility, no one is left out,” he said. “It keeps the doors open to creatives and community members who might not otherwise experience a festival of this caliber.”

Organizers expect attendance to reflect the festival’s continued growth while staying grounded in its founding mission. Molinet said the message to audiences is simple. “Come witness the future of filmmaking. These students are bold, talented, and speaking their truth.”

WHAT: The Urban Film Festival (UFF)

WHEN: From 2:45 p.m., Friday, Aug. 29 to 9 p.m., Sunday, Aug 31. See  Complete Schedule

WHERE: Overtown Performance Arts Center, 1074 NW 3rd Ave., Miami (1st Take Youth Film Program Empowerment); Silverspot Cinema, 300 SE 3rd St., #100, Miami (film screenings); Red Rooster Overtown, 920 NW 2nd Ave., Miami (youth showcases, welcome party, and after party)

COST: Free. Register at urbanfilmfestivals.com  

INFORMATION: urbanfilmfestival2025.eventive.org/welcome

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com. 

Review: LakehouseRanchDotPNG Dives Deep Into Political Theater With ‘Trotskyist’

Samuel Krogh as Lev and Garrett Colon as the younger Daniel in Alex Boyd’s “Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist” now at LakehouseRanchDotPNG at Main Street Playhouse, Miami Lakes, through Sunday, Aug. 17.

They debate ideologies with deep-dive dialogue. Andy Boyd’s “Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist” is a lesson in high stakes for its characters, both personal and political.

It’s also a way for the start-up experimental and absurdist theater, LakehouseRanchDotPNG, now going into its fourth season, to begin its foray into political theater, something the company’s artistic director Brandon Urrutia, and the director of “Trotskyist” mentioned before curtain. The play runs through Sunday, Aug. 17 at the Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes.

It’s wise to read the linear notes in the back of the program before the play begins for a brush up or an education. What is a Trotskyist? What is the Permanent Revolution?, and to find out if those in this particular theater company are communists, just in case you were wondering . . .”We’re just a theater company doing cool stuff.”

Cool stuff and a lofty play selection to boot.

The 90-minute play, in three scenes, is marked by historical turning points across four decades. The protagonist is Lev Trachtenberg (an engaging and superbly nuanced Samuel Krogh), who we first meet as a City College student, a Trotskyist, in 1939.

Lev (Samuel Krogh), right, gives one of his students, Curtis (Warren Welds) some literature to read in “Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist” by Andy Boyd at LakehouseRanchDotPNG. (Photo by Richard Lewis)

The playwright instructs in the script: “This play should move at the speed of the city.  The characters, Lev especially, revel in the skilled use of language in the way a box might revel in his technique.”

Let the fight begin. It’s Scene 1. Lev enters the college cafeteria late at night carrying a bag of deli sandwiches, pastrami and Swiss on rye. Daniel Kaplan (Garrett Colon), a stout impressionable lad wearing suspenders is sleeping. They are the City College Cafeteria Pugilists – The CCCP, which translates to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Maybe not the best acronym.

Daniel wants to be a lawyer. He thought joining the Pugilists would look good on his resume. He’s in awe of Lev. “Every Trotskyist at City College. They follow you like you were – “ Lev reacts: “Trotsky himself?” Daniel: “I was gonna say Max Schactman . . .”

If this reference goes over some audience member’s heads, yes, indeed. A good asked for ChatGPT: Who is Max Schactman? A major figure in the Trotskyist movement beginning in the 1930s.”

And that’s the trouble with “Trotskyists” – interest in the characters and in their struggles is overshadowed by trying to figure out just what everything means. Daniel wants to be a lawyer so he can help Jews. Help them immigrate – but we never learn much more of the depth of his compassion. Ben Roth (Richard K. Weber) enters to complicate things further. He’s a Communist. He accuses Daniel of running with the Troskyites, derogatorily referencing them as such throughout. Daniel is undecided which side he wants to be on. Lev lectures some more. Stalin has lost the support of the Russian people. Ben counters back, with a left hook. “It shows your true aim is not to fight for justice.”

The pace moves at a clip under the nimble direction of Urratia. Just as Boyd suggests, it’s a runaway train.

In the 1960s, Lev is teaching, a professor of Modernist Literature at Columbia University. He’s confronted by a Curtis, (Warren Welds) who is looking for an extension for an assignment. He’s also prepared to spar with the prof who is quick to tell the Black student that he “marched with Dr. King in ’63, that he lobbied hard to get the scholarship program started for the minority students, and that he was the one who “told the President that if we really cared about racial justice we had to open our doors to the black proletariat.”

Curtis tells the professor: “The writers in your course. It almost feels like they are making it purposely difficult to understand what they are saying.” Sometimes it feels like Boyd is, too.

The fact that Lev is teaching at Columbia isn’t lost on the modern audience since the current headlines surrounding Columbia today and the most recent news that the university settled a $221 million lawsuit with the Trump administration so that they get $1.3 billion in federal funding restored – with the stipulation from the federal government that they take steps to curb antisemitism on campus.

Curtis (Warren Welds), a student at Columbia University, asks for an extension on his assignment in LakehouseRanchDotPNG’s production of Alan Boyd’s “Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotkyist.” (Photo by Richard Lewis)

And there’s more relevance to today’s events, particularly in the U.S. and politics – people on one side, people on the other, both convinced they are right in their own convictions.

Scene 3, we find Lev in the 1980s. He’s a conservative think tank leader in the Reagan years. He has a 25th-floor penthouse overlooking Central Park. But is it enough? Has he sold out?

Daniel enters and they haven’t spoken in 20 years. He’s played by the actor we saw as the janitor cleaning up the City College cafeteria in Scene 1. Pete Rogan as the older Daniel, with his bushy beard and glasses, is dressed in the same suspenders the younger Daniel wore. Perhaps because of Rogan and Krogh’s wonderful chemistry, or maybe because Boyd has toned down the non-stop rhetoric, this is where we clearly see characters, humans steeped in some nostalgia with and without regrets.

Daniel, now 57, has published a bestseller, a memoir, that one book reviewer called “The Jewish ‘Roots.’ “ He never did become a lawyer, he became a writer, then a professor, now is doing the book tour circuit. (Does Boyd tell us why he didn’t become a lawyer?)

Then they launch into the playwright’s verbal boxing match. About Stalinism, Vietnam, Lev peaking out against the anti-war Left. And Daniel asking how someone so determined to a conviction has become a champion of the political right?

We never really get the answer to that question, either. No, Lev has called Daniel to his office after two decades for a reason and it isn’t just to wax nostalgia.

He has a secret and he needs Daniel’s help. To reveal the spoiler would be, well, to reveal the spoiler. But, he wants Daniel to write his memoir. “Start at the beginning. 1939. When we first met,” he tells Daniel.

An older Daniel (Pete Rogan) meets Lev (Samuel Krogh) decades later in New York City at a penthouse office overlooking Central Park. (Photo by Richard Lewis)

Tyler Regalado keeps the set sparse. A faux brick wall splashed with gray paint on either side doesn’t attempt to look realistic. It serves as a backdrop for the illusions of the characters. There’s a table with books, a chair. There’s an interesting door-like rectangle that changes color and sometimes casts a shadow of the character thanks to lighting director Leonardo Urbina. Alex Tarradell’s sound design plays a haunting organ soundtrack underneath throughout. It’s subtle and never interruptive. There are also political songs that play at the beginning and the end. Erin Proctor’s costumes are period-appropriate and help define the passage of time.

And it’s a wise choice to not use age make up or any other falsity for Lev’s passage of time. Only glasses and a blazer create the change for the ‘80s.

Urrutia’s commitment to the play is everywhere, including the ensemble he’s chosen who are equally committed to making sense of the verbal acrobatics.

“Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist” isn’t usual fare, precisely what Urrutia and LakehouseRanchDotPNG bring to the South Florida scene.

If you’re looking for an easy, breezy night out to sit back and passively enjoy a play, this isn’t for you. For those willing to be challenged and wanting to support alternative theater, this is it. And, as far as political theater goes, this is the past informing the present.

WHAT:  Alex Boyd’s “Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist”

WHERE:  LakehouseRanchDotPNG, Main Street Playhouse, 6812 Main St., Miami Lakes

WHEN:  8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Sunday, Aug. 17

COST:  $20.

INFORMATION: 786-427-4721 and lakehouseranchdotpng.com

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

‘My Mother and Tonton’ At Little Haiti Cultural Complex Drawn From Real Life

Celeste Landeros, Ph.D., wrote “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton,” an immersive theater piece about experiences in her own life, which will be performed Thursday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 10, at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. (Photo by Inez Barlatier)

The story of a retired Miami public school teacher and a master Haitian percussionist forms the foundation of a new work. Through music, memory, and intergenerational witnessing, the piece pays tribute to two elder figures who shaped one woman’s life—and left an imprint on the city’s cultural fabric.

Drawing from personal experience, Celeste Landeros, Ph.D., has created what she describes as an immersive piece influenced by opera, carnival traditions, and community storytelling. That convergence of forms and histories is central to “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton.”

“The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” will be performed Thursday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 10, in the Little Haiti Cultural Complex’s theater lobby.

Jean Fraser (Carol Ravich) and Catelus “Tonton” Laguerre (Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis) dance one last time in “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton,” a tender ritual of remembrance and reclamation. (Photo by Celeste Landeros)

The production centers on 90-year-old Jean Fraser, a retired educator and Landeros’s mother, and 82-year-old Catelus “Tonton” Laguerre, a revered Haitian percussionist and cultural icon.

Both lived their final months under the same roof, cared for by Landeros and her family. What unfolds onstage is not merely performance—it is a deeply personal ritual of remembrance and cultural care.

Landeros—a classically trained soprano, former Latin music critic and editor at Miami New Times (1999–2005), founding editor of artburstmiami.com, and current member of the Florida Folklife Council—has long channeled her artistry into exploring legacy and identity.

“Having these two elders in the house at the end of their lives—as they became ancestors—was a really powerful experience that I wanted to share,” she says. “It was joyful, painful, surreal. And it changed me forever.”

She doesn’t romanticize the experience but insists on honoring it. “Every work of art I made while I was a caregiver was about—or blocking out—my mother and Tonton. I was living inside a poem I didn’t know how to write yet.”

The cast of “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton, are, from left, Fernando Landeros, Celeste Landeros, who performs and wrote the script, Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis, Inez Barlatier, and Carol Ravich. (Photo by Janell Campbell)

The work traces the intertwined final year of Fraser and Laguerre’s lives. Fraser, who lived with Alzheimer’s, served Miami-Dade County for more than two decades as a teacher and assistant principal. Laguerre, a founding member of Haiti’s National Folklore Troupe, never secured legal residency in the United States. He was a fixture in Miami’s Haitian community for more than 40 years, known for his mastery of rara, yanvalou, and other sacred and social rhythms.

In the wake of gentrification-fueled housing instability, Laguerre was left without a home, so the Landeros family welcomed him into theirs. Their house became a sanctuary where cultures, memories, and daily rituals coexisted: Irish lullabies, Haitian drums, shared meals, and caregiving routines, all stitched together to form a rare and fragile harmony.

“My mom took care of thousands of children as a public-school teacher,” recalls Landeros. “When she retired, she didn’t have much to do—so she took care of Tonton. That gave her purpose again.”

The cast of “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” brings to life the intergenerational household at the heart of the story. Actress Carol Ravich plays Jean Fraser. Ayisyen-American singer, musician, and actor Inez Barlatier—whose work is featured in the documentaries “Razing Liberty Square” and “Madame Pipi”—portrays Islande, a devoted student of Tonton. Milaimys “Milly” Castellón, a first-generation Cuban-American artist and New World School of the Arts alumna, takes on the role of Belle, Celeste’s daughter. Fernando Landeros, a pianist trained at Juilliard, the Mozarteum, and the University of Miami, who is a Miami-Dade music teacher and a performer, appears as himself.

Catelus “Tonton” Laguerre (Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis), right, gives a drumming lesson in “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” to Milaimys Castellón, left, and Inez Barlatier. (Photo by Celeste Landeros)

Playwright and director Celeste Landeros appears as “Herself,” guiding the piece through scenes that merge narration, music, and lived memory.

Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis steps into the role of Laguerre.

“To portray Tonton is truly an honor,” says Saint Louis. “He wasn’t just a famous drummer—he was someone I knew and respected deeply. He was Haitian like me, and to step into his story onstage feels like paying tribute to a part of myself, too.”

Born in Haiti, Saint Louis is a cultural bridge in his own right—performing in sacred Vodou ceremonies, schools, street festivals, and on international stages. His daily practice and devotion to the drum reflect an ancestral presence, grounding his artistry in both discipline and spiritual tradition.

Much like the man he embodies onstage, Saint Louis carries forward the legacy of Haitian percussion and oral culture. His presence in Miami’s cultural life has made him a living archive of rhythm, resistance, and generational memory.

“I always enjoy sharing my culture and traditions with people from other countries. It’s a two-way street—I learn from them, and they learn from me. I’ve done it many times before, representing Haiti and connecting with other cultures along the way.”

Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis, a Haitian drummer and community elder, brings ancestral rhythm and lived experience to his portrayal of Tonton in “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” by Celeste Landeros. (Photo by Inez Barlatier)

The two even performed together once. “We were in a movie years ago. I don’t remember the title, but I remember how he played—how the drum became his whole body. He was a quiet man, but the rhythms spoke for him.”

Laguerre was a familiar presence in Little Haiti, and Saint Louis often greeted him with a gentle pat on the back. “Since he was blind, I’d say, ‘Hey, it’s Steward!’ He wasn’t always warm to everyone, but with me, he always showed kindness. That meant a lot to me.” When approached by Landeros for the role, he immediately accepted. “This was someone who gave everything to his art, to his people. He put Haiti on the map.”

The show’s design, by Damian Rojo, elevates the domestic to the sacred—transforming everyday objects like chairs, bowls, and laundry lines into votive symbols of remembrance. Throughout his career, Rojo has served as art director and production designer for a range of iconic artists, including neo-soul singer and songwriter Maxwell, genre-defying R&B innovator Erykah Badu (on her “Mama’s Gun ’25: The Return of Automatic Slim” tour), and the legendary Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac, in what Rojo calls one of his most cherished collaborations at the Stephen Talkhouse. He also art-directed episodes of “MTV Unplugged” and designed sets for a Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring supermodel Kate Moss, with billboards illuminating Times Square.

Tonton and Fernando clash over bathroom rights in a scene from “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton.” Pictured are actors Wesner “Ti Wes” Saint Louis and Fernando Landeros. (Photo by Celeste Landeros)

Musically, the work draws on Haitian, Scottish, and Irish folk traditions. But in Landeros’s hands, these aren’t mere gestures of nostalgia—they become survival strategies. Audience members are invited to participate through clapping, singing, call-and-response, and simple collective gestures.

“With Tonton, singing the songs he had taught me helped [him] more than the morphine,” says Landeros. “And with my mom, I got her to sing with me with her last breaths.”

What began as an attempt to reconnect with her mother’s Irish roots—through folk songs and a postponed trip to Ireland—soon became a broader act of healing. “I finally was exposed to my own heritage,” she says. “And I realized I couldn’t do the album without inviting my collaborators from Miami. It became a fusion: Haitian and Scottish, Cuban and Irish. That’s who I am.”

For Saint Louis, the project resonates deeply. “I’ve traveled to Japan, Africa, Canada—always as a drummer, sharing the heartbeat of Haiti. But this is different,” he says. “I’ve never acted before. It pushes me to grow, to tell the story not just through rhythm, but through silence and breath, too.”

A vigil for Jean Fraser features, from left, actors Milaimys Castellón, Celeste Landeros, and Fernando Landeros, with Carol Ravich on couch, during a rehearsal for “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton.” (Photo by Inez Barlatier)

Set against the backdrop of Miami’s vibrant cultural landscape, “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” finds its heartbeat in the voices of elders, the drumlines of Little Haiti, and the homes where multiple generations learn the rhythms of caregiving and coexistence.

“Folklore is participatory,” says Landeros. “You may not be a master percussionist, but you can clap. You can hum. You can show up with your whole self. That’s how we built this show.”

“The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton” centers on music as a way to preserve memory and endure personal and collective loss. As Landeros reflects, music becomes not only a form of remembrance but also a means of survival—especially in the face of grief, displacement, and change. Rooted in the intimacy of the home and the strength of community bonds, these songs carry what might otherwise be forgotten.

“It’s all about the music,” Landeros says. “That’s how we remember. That’s how we resist.”

WHAT: “The Last Songs of My Mother and Tonton”

WHERE: Little Haiti Cultural Complex theater lobby, 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7 and Friday, Aug. 8;  2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10.

COST: From $24.80 (includes fees). Free for seniors 65 and older.

 INFORMATION: 305-960-2969 or  www.eventbrite.com/

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com

To Miami from Venezuela, big dreams realized in movie ‘The Shadow of the Sun’

Anyelo López in his film debut as Alex in Miami native Miguel Angel Ferrer’s feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”), making its U.S. theatrical debut in Miami, Coral Gables and Doral movie theaters starting Friday, Aug. 8. (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

In Miami native Miguel Angel Ferrer’s feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”), the main character Leo is depicted as being reluctant to step outside of his current familiar situation, despite its dreariness, into the future.

A similar hesitance plagued Ferrer, too, as he describes the aha moment when he decided to make his movie that would go on to win numerous film festival awards and was selected as Venezuela’s official entry for Best International Film in the 2024 Academy Awards. With a distribution deal from Outsider Pictures, “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”) is making its U.S. theatrical debut in Miami movie theaters opening Friday, Aug. 8.

It was the closing night of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) in 2021, recalls Ferrer. After attending films and meeting people at the festival, he says he asked himself, “Why don’t I have a film here?’” And the answer, he says, was always the same.

A scene from the feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”) filmed over 18 days. (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

“It was because I hadn’t made up my mind to do it. The only obstacle was me.”

The story of two brothers came to mind. Leo (Carlos Manuel González) gave up his dreams, including singing, after his parents died in a fire and he became caregiver to his deaf younger brother, Alex (Anyelo López in his film debut).  Alex, a budding songwriter, wants to bring hope back to his brother in the form of the two of them entering a musical contest, which offers a much-needed cash prize.

The theme of perseverance amid adversity was inspired by Ferrer’s 2020 trip to Venezuela and his dream of making a film about his homeland.

Ferrer, a native of Venezuela, moved to Miami in 1996 at the age of twelve with his Cuban mother. His father, who was also born in Venezuela, came to Miami about two years later, he says. They settled in Kendall.

“Since then, I have only been in Venezuela once in 2007 for about 10 days and then, in 2020, (producer) Wil Romero convinced me to go there and do a project,” he says.

University of Miami grad, Kendall native and director Miguel Angel Ferrer behind the camera during shooting of his film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”). (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

Ferrer, who lives in Los Angeles, landed his first job as a cameraman for National Geographic. The 2003 graduate of Miami’s Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Ferrer would go on to study film at the University of Miami, graduating in 2007. He credits mentors in the university’s film department — Jeffrey Stern of the School of Communications, who recently won an Emmy Award for his work on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” and Johnny Calderín, who was part of UM’s film department, and now heads the film program at his alma mater Belen Jesuit.

“There are so many people who have helped me. And it just shows that when you lend someone a hand, it goes a very long way.”

In 2014, Ferrer founded Magic Films, an L.A.-based company that collaborates with major record labels on music videos and produces commercials for brands such as State Farm, Pepsi, Nissan, and Super Bowl Hispanic campaigns.

The trek to Venezuela in 2020 to meet Romero started as an adventure and never let up. “I didn’t have a valid Venezuelan passport. So, I flew into Colombia, crossed the border by foot, and pretty much had to sneak into my own country. He picked me up in his truck and we went on a 16-hour drive through the interior of Venezuela.”

The trip was life changing. “Along that path, I met so many people, I re-encountered my country through the people of the interior.”

The “interior” was Romero’s hometown Acarigua, located in the northwestern state of Portuguesa, Venezuela. “I re-encountered what it was like to be Venezuelan,” says Ferrer. “People that do miracles every single day because they have so many obstacles.”

Anyelo López as Alex in “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”), filmed entirely in Venezuela. (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

He was determined that the movie would be made entirely in Venezuela.  “Yes, there’s the political situation that has been going on for 25 years, and the oppression and all that, yet you still see these people fighting every single day. And I said, ‘Where is this in the movies? Where is this in cinema? And how do I take this to an international audience and show them who the people truly are.’ ”

He also made another discovery, Anyelo López from Caracas, who had never acted before and is the co-star of the film.

Speaking from Spain via an interpreter,  the 27-year-old López, born deaf, describes discovering an unexpected destiny.

It was through WhatsApp as part of a small group of deaf people that would meet up in Caracas, where López learned about the casting call. “I received this video about the casting, and I wanted to know about the money. How much would it pay?”

It wasn’t because he had dreams of being in the movies that he auditioned, he admits.

“It’s a really complicated situation in Venezuela, so many, many people have a similar story. They will just try to find work,” says López.

There were eight deaf actors who auditioned for the role. “And then it was down to only three. And then Miguel said to me, ‘It’s you. You are Alex.’ And I was so happy that Miguel chose me. No, I didn’t have this dream, but I thought it would be a great experience.”

Miguel Angel Ferrer and Anyelo López during shooting of the feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”) in Venezuela. (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

He had never been to Acarigua, more than 100 miles from Caracas, where most of the film was shot. The entire production took just 18 days—16 in Acarigua and two in Caracas.

“It’s really beautiful there. And it would be long days of shooting – like eight hours of filming and it was hard work, but it was amazing,” says López.

Co-star González spent three months learning sign language with two Fundafid foundation members in Caracas before filming began.

For López, working with Ferrer, González, and others involved in the film’s production, the experience changed his life; he is now dedicated to pursuing a career as an actor.

“I’m really proud to be from Venezuela and a deaf actor. It is a good way for me to talk about my experience. I have these options as a deaf person and as an actor, and maybe with a new story.”

The decision to portray the younger brother as deaf in the film originated from the theme Ferrar wanted to have so strongly at the center of “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”).

“There are people who have all these gifts and opportunities, and they waste them for whatever reason, and then there are people who would die to have those chances, and they never will. It comes from my experience. We all do it, maybe because we’re human, so that’s a frustration I had even with myself.”

He relates this to the characters he’s created.

Carlos Manuel Gonzalez as Leo in the feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”). (Photo courtesy of Magic Films)

“There’s Leo, who has this amazing voice and talent, good looks, and everything going for him and wastes it. And on the other side, you have someone with no voice. Even being deaf, Alex has more of a voice than his brother. In the end, he is the one who shows his brother how to use his voice.”

Ferrer notes that although he completed the film nearly three years ago, its current release is more than relevant given current U.S. policies concerning Latin American migrants and asylum seekers.

“It shows you that there are people who just want the chance to have a better life. They just want a shot. I certainly wouldn’t have had all of the opportunities I’ve had throughout my life if my mother hadn’t brought us from Venezuela to here.”

WHAT: Miguel Angel Ferrer’s “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”)

WHERE: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; CMX CinéBistro CityPlace Doral, 3450 NW 83rd Ave., Doral; CMX Brickell City Centre, 701 S. Miami Ave., Miami; AMC Aventura 24, 19501 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura.

WHEN: Opens Friday, Aug. 8 with a 7:15 reception at Coral Gables Art Cinema and a Q&A after the film. Starts Thursday, Aug. 14 at Savor Cinema, 503 SE 6th St., Fort Lauderdale

COST: Tickets range from $8 to $20, depending on showtimes and movie theater.

INFORMATION:   Showtimes and information at outsiderpictures.us

(In Spanish with English subtitles)

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com

Filmmaker’s ‘Mango Movie’ Deconstructed Into Exhibition At Green Space

One of the participants in Jayme Kaye Gershen’s “Mango Movie” is shown in the film. Now, a multi-sensory art exhibit at Green Space Miami, “When Mangos Last In My Backyard Bloom’d” through Saturday, Aug. 9, is a deconstruction of the movie. (Photo by Oscar J. Lobo)

What began as a 13-minute short film about South Florida’s beloved mango has evolved into an immersive exhibit at Green Space Miami.

Jayme Kaye Gershen’s “When Mangos Last In My Backyard Bloom’d,” through Saturday, Aug. 9, is a multi-sensory art exhibit – a deconstruction of her original “Mango Movie.”

The film, shot at the Legion Park Farmers Market in the summer of 2023, featured 22 people eating mangoes, highlighting the diverse, and sometimes, emotive reactions of Miamians immersed in the fruit.

A detail of the mango tree sculpture with the mango seed structure in the background at “When Mangos Last in My Backyard Bloom’d” at Green Space Miami. (Photo by Alfonso Duran)

The exhibit features eight screens with interviews from that day at the farmers market, along with immersive sound design, and a physical installation made from mango seeds.

Visitors are invited to eat mangos, interact with the installation, and contribute their own mango seeds to a growing sculpture, making the experience both personal and communal.

“You walk into the exhibit, you pick your mango from this mango sculpture we’ve built, we cut it for you, and you walk around and eat mangos, smell mangos, hear mangos, taste mangos, feel the mango. It’s a visceral sort of experience,” says Gershen.

And there are more stories to be gathered from the experience, says the filmmaker. “To continue telling the stories, and rather than doing that through film, we’re filling one of the walls on the sculpture where mango seed husks are empty. We’ve been filling it with the mangos that people eat in the gallery.”

She finds that this becomes a physical portrait of the city as visitors leave their own mark on the exhibit.

Young visitors place their mango seeds in the mango tree wishing well at Jayme Kaye Gershen’s exhibit, “When Mangos Last in My Backyard Bloom’d” at Green Space Miami. (Photo by Carolina Mendendez)

“After you’ve enjoyed your mango, there’s a sink, and you dig into the seed there, leave your mark, drop it in a wishing well and then we collect that, clean them, seal them and add them to the sculpture.”

This evolution from film to multi-layered exhibition was driven by a desire to connect the community in new ways, moving beyond traditional film screenings to create a shared, physical, and sensorial experience.

The project, she says, demonstrates how film can be taken “off screen” and transformed into an impactful, participatory art experience. The exhibit encourages conversations about memory, climate, and local culture, and has become a community connector, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds.

There have been various participatory events throughout the run, culminating in a three-part workshop series, “Mango Artist Bookmaking.” “Mango Husk Paper Making” on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2 to 5 p.m., is led by Ọmọlará Williams McCallister, “Mango Leaf Pigment Painting,” on Sunday, Aug. 3, from 3 to 5 p.m., is with Gabriela Serra, and the final workshop, “Mango Book Stab Binding” with Nicole Combeau is on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m.

The mango seed husk structure in Jayme Kaye Gershen’s exhibit, “When Mangos Last in My Backyard Bloom’d.”  (Photo by Alfonso Duran)

The closing event, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 9, and hosted by the Subtropic Film Festival, is a “Making Of” panel that explores how the short film was transformed into an immersive exhibit.

“Miami has all these disparate parts, but there are some things that bring us together and mangos are one of them,” says the filmmaker and artist.

It was during King Mango season in the summer of 2022 that Gershen started noticing that there were these “endless amounts of mangoes.”

While mangoes are not considered at risk in Florida, Gershen found that she could tie the concept to climate chaos.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s hard to predict, you know? The thought was about getting us to reminisce about something that’s still here. it gets people talking and thinking about things before we lose them. And, this project has been a community connector.”

Jayme Kaye Gershen in the midst of her mango exhibition at Greenspace Miami. (Photo by Alfonso Duran)

Originally from Springfield, Mass., Gershen moved to Miami in 2007. While cat sitting at a friend’s house where a mango tree bloomed in the backyard, she started collecting mangoes. “I didn’t have a car at the time, and I was biking all over town trying to give them away so they wouldn’t go to waste.”

She noticed that there was a bit of an obsession in South Florida with mangos. “Friends would have mango parties and swaps and someone would want to try a mango from one person’s tree to see if it was different from theirs.”

It became a bit of an obsession for her, too. “There’s 600 varieties of mangos in South Florida. And, it’s said, through some of the farmers I have talked to, that there are 5,000 varieties of mangos in the world.”

She also realized that there was something about how people connected with the edible stone fruit that also related to her artistic practice.

“All of my work is about connection in surprising ways.”

She says the discovery of mangos has been a gift.

A visitor watches the films at Jayme Kaye Gershen’s exhibit, “When Mangos Last in My Backyard Bloom’d” at Green Space Miami. (Photo by Carolina Mendendez)

“I’ve been in Miami for almost 20 years, applying to grants and being an artist in my way and having all of these big ideas that were sort of hard to realize. This particular project seems like it has unlocked some doors that I had been knocking on for a long time.”

The exhibit has also been a way for the filmmaker to look outside of the traditional ways people experience a movie, and the limits that are placed on the experience.

She’s currently working on a concept of a “choose your own adventure” where the audience becomes the editor.

“Essentially, it would be a physical maze of rooms similar to what we have in this exhibition, but on all sorts of different topics that tie you together to an experience understanding the different ways we all see Miami.”

It’s also brought contemplation on what her place as a filmmaker will be in the future.

“The exhibit has been an interesting experiment about how we can take film outside of the theater and bring it to the people. I am really interested in immersive filmmaking and how we actually move people to feel that they are seen in the films they are engaging with.”

WHAT: “When Mangos Last in My Backyard Bloom’d”

WHEN: Through Sunday, Aug. 9. Workshops: 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 2, Mango Husk Paper Making;  3 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 3, “Mango Leaf Pigment Painting,” and 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, “Mango Book Stab Binding.” 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, “Making Of” panel discussion.

Regular hours: noon to 6 p.m., Thursday, through Sunday; Monday through Wednesday, by appointment.

WHERE: Green Space Miami, 7200 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami

COST: Free – Sign up for workshops at Eventbrite

INFORMATION: 786-266-6392 or www.greenspace.org.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.

Review: Main Street Players’ ‘The Revolutionists’ Reigns Supreme

Zoë Darragh Garnett as Olympe de Gouges, Elizabeth Chavez as Marie Antoinette, and Dayana Morales as Charlotte Corday in Main Street Players’ production of “The Revolutionists” at the Main Street Playhouse, Miami Lakes, through Sunday, Aug. 3. (Photo by Sefanja Richard Galon, courtesy of Main Street Players)

Think “Hamilton” without the music and sans a male-dominated cast, and you’ve got Lauren Gunderson’s “The Revolutionists,” a play that imagines the gathering of four historical women. Three are actual figures from the Reign of Terror in 1793, and one is a composite based on revolutionaries in history. A Black woman fighting for freedom from French-controlled Saint Dominque (now Haiti), Gunderson had to compile the character from multiple narratives, as most of the real stories have been erased.

The small, but mighty Main Street Players in Miami Lakes embrace Gunderson’s satire. Even her character descriptions in the script give a hint of how the roles should be played. We first meet Olympe de Gouges (the wonderfully earnest and so convincing Zoë Darragh Garnett), who Gunderson describes as a “badass activist playwright.” An activist for women’s rights, best known for her Declaration for the Rights of Women.

Enter Marianne Angelle (the versatile Cheryl Ross), a fictional character who Gunderson calls a “badass Black woman in Paris.” Wearing a sash emblazoned with the words “Revolution for All,” she symbolizes the Haitian rebels and revolutionaries of the time.

Cheryl Ross as Marianne Angelle and Zoë Darragh Garnett as playwright Olympe de Gouges in “The Revolutionists” at Main Street Players in Miami Lakes. (Photos by Sefanja Richard Galon, courtesy of Main Street Players)

Although they are all strong women, Charlotte Corday (a feisty Dayana Morales riffing a killer French accent), the infamous assassin of revolutionary Jean Paul Marat, comes off as the most determined. Gunderson describes her as a “badass country girl, serious, hardened by righteousness and never been kissed.” A knife tucked in her boot, she’s ready to commit the deed that must be done, which will lead to her death by guillotine.

The most recognizable to audiences is Marie Antoinette (Elizabeth Chavez playing her to the hilt as the original “Influencer”), who shows up for de Gouges to rewrite her history, get her “better press.” Gunderson’s description? “Less badass but fascinating former queen of France .  . .  unintentionally rude.”

A guillotine stage right – painted on wood hastily to replicate the colors of the French flag is where the action begins. There is no one in the rack for beheading but we hear the blade come crashing down.

de Gouges enters, breaking the fourth wall, and speaking to her audience. “Well, that’s not a way to start a comedy. With an execution?” We learn she’s suffering from writer’s block – afraid to write what she desires about what’s happening around her for fear of consequences. “What if I write a play that is the voice of this revolution, but not the hyperbolic, angry-yelling kind.”

Besides the stage right area for the guillotine, the main action takes place in set designer Jacob Brown’s comfortable representation of de Gouges’ living quarters – the writing desk being an important playing area

The walls are decorated with clotheslines and clips from which hang pages and pages of different writings.

What the company does within the confines of the small theater to bring this play to life is commendable. Part of the difficulty of pulling off Gunderson’s vision is how to seamlessly mix the historical facts with a 21st-century modern language and humor. Marie Antoinette’s struggles as a queen in this version: “I couldn’t even start a youth fitness program at the palace, and don’t get me started on my rebranding ideas.”

The action moves quickly under Danny Nieves skilled direction and his understanding of the different levels in which this dramedy should ebb and flow is the underscore that brings everything together.

Elizabeth Chavez’s Marie Antoinette, right, has plenty to say as Zoë Darragh Garnett and Dayana Morales look on. (Photo by Sefanja Richard Galon, courtesy of Main Street Players)

Angelina Esposito’s costumes are wonderfully period and historically accurate, from the fitted bodice and wide skirt for de Gouges to the elaborate detail of Marie Antoinette’s lace, ruffles and, of course, signature tall wig, here decorated with bows.

The lighting design by Ricky J Martinez bathes the characters in cool light, almost sepia tone, giving the illusion of an antique photo. Caroline Ruiz’s sound design is at its best during scenes where riotous crowds have gathered to witness the public executions. The mob’s chants and cheers envelop the theater, giving the illusion that we’re in the thick of things.

During one scene, some of the women are sent into the audience to deliver pamphlets that carry quotes from strong activist women through history — Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, well-known names — and those that aren’t particularly household names – Rosa Luxemburg, a Polish-German Marxist revolutionary executed in 1919, and Leila Khaled, a Palestinian liberation fighter, as examples.

It’s one of the moments of impact – there are many – yet there is plenty of comedy to balance the seriousness of the times.

This is a wonderfully balanced production that dives into Gunderson’s way with words – and she gives her characters a lot of them.

“The Revolutionists” is a multi-layered play and Main Street Players delivers on every level.

WHAT: “The Revolutionists”

WHERE: Main Street Players, Main Street Playhouse, 6812 Main St., Miami Lakes

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Sunday, Aug. 3

COST:  $30,  $25 for students and seniors with ID

INFORMATION: 305-558-3737 or mainstreetplayers.com.

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don’t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com