TEATRO ESPEJO PRESENTS
The Language of Flowers
PERFORMANCE DATES: October 10-20, 2024
PREVIEW: Thursday, October 10
OPENING NIGHT: Friday, October 11
*BENEFIT PEFORMANCE: Saturday, October 12 (Reception 5pm to 6:45pm, Performance at 7pm)
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm
Sundays at 2pm
* Celebrate the launch of our 50th Season bringing Latiné/Chicano theatre to the Sacramento region. Ticket to the October 12th Benefit includes: pre-show appetizers, wine, beer, and entertainment; plus a performance of “The Language of Flowers.”
LOCATION
West Sacramento Black Box Theatre
1075 W Capitol Ave, West Sacramento, CA 95691
(Use Turner Library entrance) Click here for navigation & parking info
About the Venue: The theatre is wheelchair accessible. Gender neutral restroom available.
JOIN US FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY KICK-OFF EVENT!
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Edit Villarreal
Directed by Manuel José Pickett
ABOUT THE PLAY
The Language of Flowers by Edit Villarreal is an urban Chicano adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in Los Angeles. This play explores love and cultural identity against the backdrop of the Latino immigrant experience. The narrative touches on themes of family, community, and survival in a tough city where love seems out of place amidst challenges. Villarreal weaves together Shakespearean elements with bilingual dialogue and cultural references, creating a story that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in modern issues faced by Latino communities in the U.S.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Edit Villarreal’s plays have been performed across the US at numerous regional theaters, community teatros, universities and colleges. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS began its life at Cal State Los Angeles when a colleague invited her to collaborate on a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET. Another play, MY VISITS WITH MGM (MY GRANDMOTHTER MARTA,) celebrates Villarreal’s early life with her immigrant Grandmother who was named Marta. THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS was recently published in The Bard in the Borderlands, An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations En La Frontera. An early version of MY VISITS WITH MGM (MY GRANDMOTHER MARTA) can be found in Shattering the Myth: Plays by Hispanic Women.
Born in Texas, Edit Villarreal is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Yale School of Drama, where she received an MFA in playwriting. Edit is currently a Professor in the theater department at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television where she has served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and more recently as Vice Chair Graduate Studies. She is happy to say she has worked with Profe Pickett several times and is thrilled and honored that Teatro Espejo has chosen her play as part of their 50th Anniversary Season!
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