Shotgun Players

Maintained and
hosted by
Oak City
Graphics

by Virgilio Piñera
Translated and Adapted by Aaron Krasner

Opens: Sunday, December 2 at 8 pm
Continues: Sundays and Mondays at 8 pm
Closes: Monday, December 17 at 8 pm
Admission: All tickets $10
Performed At: La Val's Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley

Adam Chipkin (Hombre)
Andrea Day (Mujer)
Sandra Garcia (Novia)
Aldo Pisano (Novio)

Gina Pulice, director
Hokulani Valencia, stage manager
Heather Vaughn, costume design

Review by Lisa Drostova for East Bay Express

Shotgun Players' Black Box Productions takes its fourth leap to date with "Blanco y Negro," a play that takes a searing look at the folly of black and white thinking in a modern political society. Shotgun Artistic Associate Gina Pulice pioneered the Black Box series last year with her original piece "7th Veil," a movement based depiction of the Salome story that operated from Salome’s point of view. Now she works again with translator Aaron Krasner, bringing to both English and Spanish speaking audiences an original translation and adaptation of a short play by Cuban novelist and playwright Virgilio Piñera.

"Blanco y Negro" presents one heated debate in three separate contexts, highlighting the striking similarities between seemingly dissimilar moments in history. The first act is set in 1950s Cuba, at the time of the Cuban Revolution. The second act moves to Miami, Florida in 1999, in the midst of the intense debate surrounding the custody of Elián González and the severe division that thrust people to opposite sides of that issue. In the final act, the ensemble infuses the debate with the current events in the United States and Afghanistan, allowing the audience to examine how hard lined thinking has affected this war. By changing certain linguistic and contextual variables, Pulice leads a provocative journey through our thoughts and feelings about these issues.

"Blanco y Negro" will be presented bilingually, both in English and in Spanish. This device will further illuminate black and white world views by illustrating a phenomenon deeply felt in the Bay Area, with its large Spanish speaking population. Although the piece is bilingual, those who speak only English or only Spanish will easily understand it.