Student-directed
play opens in Student Union
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
From
Emmy Award winning writer Josefina Lopez
comes, “Boyle Heights,” a play premiering
at the Cal State Long Beach Auditorium Friday,
Sept. 13.
With such hit plays as, “Simply Maria or
The American Dream” and “Confessions of
Women from East L.A,” Lopez, who received
two Sundance Film Festival awards earlier
this year for the movie version of “Real
Women Have Curves,” in which she co-wrote,
will present her new play “Boyle Heights.”
Sponsored by student organizations Movimiento
Estudiantil de Teatro Y Arts and Nuevo Teatro
Popular, the play is a dramatic comedy about
an immigrant family’s struggle in their
Spanish neighborhood.
The 12-member cast play is scheduled to
run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8p.m. throughout
the month of Sept. in the small auditorium
located on the first floor of the University
Student Union.
“It’s been a monster of a project,” said
Emiliano Torres, the play’s director. Torres,
a newcomer to the field of directng, said
he is very proud of the work. “It
is by no means mediocre,” he said.
Torres, who will be receiving a degree in
theatre arts from CSULB, was presented with
the opportunity to direct the play by one
of his professors.
“I am a professional actor and I met Josefina
Lopez about eight months ago,” he said.
“We knew some of the same people in the
industry. She has given me complete liberty
to do what I wanted to do with the play”
Torres is hoping the play will have a huge
turnout, and invites all students to come
and experience it.
Producing the play is senior Lizzet Alvarez,
who was given the tedious task of designing
fliers, posters and programs to market the
play. Alvarez is also a member of
META and NTP.
“I believe in META’s mission to expose and
promote awareness on the diversity of the
Latino culture through the arts. “We want
others to be exposed to this beauty, and
this play is a perfect example.” Alvarez
said.
Lorenzo Uribe, a junior at CSULB, will be
playing “Ernie,” brother of the main character
of the play.
“My character is in the background a lot.
He is there for comic relief,” Uribe said.
Along with being member of META, he is the
president of Groupo Folklorico Mexica, an
organization on campus that was founded
over a year ago.
“I started getting involved in theatre and
I like it a lot, so I tried out for this
play and I made it. I liked this play
because it was about real life,” Uribe said.
Aside from being a successful writer, Lopez
is founder and artistic director of CASA
0101, an art gallery located in Los Angeles.
The gallery is committed to offering an
outlet for live theatre and artistic expression,
barring such evils promoting racial, gender
and sexual discrimination, and violence
against animals.
Ticket prices for the play are $10 at the
door, $7 in advanced and $5 for groups of
15 or more. For more information on the
play students can call (323) 687-2416.
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