UCI Drama Looks at Immigration and Gender Equality in PLUMAS NEGRAS
UCI DRAMA LOOKS AT IMMIGRATION AND GENDER EQUALITY IN PROFESSOR JULIETTE CARRILLO’S PLUMAS NEGRAS
Irvine, Calif., February 20, 2018 – UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts Department of Drama continues its 2017 – 18 season “The Business of Politics/The Politics of Business” with Professor Juliette Carrillo’s original work Plumas Negras. Carrillo began this project while working with Cornerstone Theater Company in the East Salinas community back in 2013; she interviewed countless farmworkers, and as she heard story after compelling story, a narrative began to emerge. The play’s narrative follows the lives of three generations of female workers, the struggles that tear their families apart, and the love that binds them together. Also partially narrating the action are two wise crows, as magical realism weaves throughout a script that is rich with serious explorations of workers’ rights, gender inequity, and the perceptions and treatment of the immigrant population.
Plumas Negras, which is performed partially in Spanish with projected English supertitles, provides an exciting opportunity for UCI Drama’s Latinx students to explore aspects of their heritage in a new way. Anica Garcia-DeGraff, who plays Perla, is excited about this challenge. “I welcome this chance to reclaim my Mexican heritage and identity, and to once again speak a language that was largely lost to me,” she said. The work is also very personal to Professor Carrillo, as both author and director. “As the Latinx immigrant community has been at the center of the public eye in recent times, the necessity of sharing these deeply personal—and human--- stories has become infinitely important to me,” she said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the development of this work here as a new professor in the UCI Drama department.”
The show’s scenic elements include a mural inspired by the work of artist José Ortiz, as well as sound design that transports the viewer between realistic and magical narrative worlds. In a drama season that examines various ways in which the power and greed of the sociopolitical machine effect various populations, Plumas Negras gives clear and expressive voice to three generations of powerful women. We hope you can join us for this evocative work, as well as for the final two offerings of the UCI Drama season: Tony Kushner’s topical A Bright Room Called Day, and Green Day’s defiant American Idiot.
Performances and Ticket Information
Claire Trevor Theatre. Parking: 4000 Mesa Rd, Irvine, CA 92617
Evenings: Mar. 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Evening: Mar. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinees: Mar. 11*, 17, 18 at 2:00 p.m.
General Admission $18 / Seniors & Groups 10+ $15 / UCI Students & Children under 17 $11. Box Office (949) 824-2787 or www.arts.uci.edu/tickets.
The UCI Drama production team will host a post-performance TalkBack on March 11th after the 2 p.m. matinee with the creative team and cast.