Boyle
Heights first run is successful
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
The
emerging Cal State Long Beach Latino theater
group, Nuevo Teatro Popular debuted the
long awaited play, “Boyle Heights,” to a
packed house at the Beach Auditorium Friday
night.
The 11-member cast play, written by the
award winning writer Josefina Lopez, opened
to a well-receptive, applauding audience.
 First
time director, Emiliano Torres proved himself
more than capable of taking on “Boyle Heights”
and fulfilling the difficult challenges
of his position.
With very few technical glitches, the characters,
which were based on real people from Lopez’s
life, were convincingly brought to life
by the talented cast.
Dalia, the self-proclaimed “educated bum”
and main character of the play, with whom
Lopez admittedly related closely to, was
acted by CSULB theatre arts graduate Marcia
Lemus. Lemus portrayed the sarcastic,
idealistic and headstrong personality of
Dalia. She took the audience through
the motions of her unsettled dream world,
presenting the character’s thoughts and
internal dialogue to the audience through
poetic words.
Exceptionally written, “Boyle Heights” successfully
presented the personal hardships among members
of one Mexican-American family and the generational
ties that bind them together.
“This
play is about real life…about a family and
their trials and tribulations,” Torres said.
“I really enjoyed it. It was actually
funnier than how I wrote it. I was
very happy with it,” Lopez said. “ ‘Boyle
Heights’ wasn’t about a particular place,”
she said, “but it was about feeling completely
comfortable in your own skin and in your
soul.”
“Boyle Heights” will continue to run on
Fridays and Saturdays throughout the month
of September at the Beach Auditorium.
For ticket information students can call
(323) 687-2416.
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