by Mar°a B. Del R°o
Daily Lobo
Teatro Nuevo MÇxico has realized its dream with "Sue§o" the theater company's premiere production.
"Sue§o" opened on Friday at the KiMo Theatre and will continue this weekend at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
In this play, adapted by JosÇ Rivera and directed by Michael Blum, talented actors graced the stage, giving brilliant performances. Characters include the beautiful, but scheming Estrella (Erica Engel); Basilio, king of Spain (Paul Barrientos); Segismundo, prince of Spain (Miguel Martinez) and Rosaura (Savina Zu§iga de Varela), a Polish woman with an iron will and fiery passion that could melt wax.
Astrological predictions made about Segismundo say he will be a bloodthirsty heir to the crown. The king panics and locks up the prince in a secret tower, forbidding anyone to see him. Segismundo lives in isolation for 25 years, unaware that he is a prince and he longs to see the outside world.
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Meanwhile, the king's niece and nephew, Estrella and Astolfo, the duke of Warsaw (UNM student Daniel Cornish), scheme to marry and inherit the crown. Rosaura is not at all happy with the situation, as Astolfo has left her to marry his cousin in Spain.
Rosaura comes to Spain with her manservant, Clar°n (Mateo Sarria). They have a chance encounter with Segismundo in his tower and of course, Segismundo falls in love with Rosaura. Rosaura and the crowd-pleasing Clar°n, pair up to make a heroic duo, not unlike any other in theater history. Rosaura is the heroic woman who often pushes her luck in her quest for revenge and Clar°n is the goofball, providing much-needed comic relief in this dramatic, action-laden atmosphere.
Zu§iga de Varela said she was attracted to the role of Rosaura because of the transformation the character undergoes.
"(Rosaura) starts off as a young, naãve, pissed-off girl and ends up a woman who has gone through a battle," she said. "She has seen other people's pain and learned that having empathy helps you deal with your own pain."
Zu§iga de Varela is also a founding member on the all-Latino Teatro Nuevo MÇxico. The theater company's mission is to present unique perspectives of Latino humanity through theater, multiple art forms and community outreach.
"I just think that mainstream movies really aren't giving our kids enough substance," Zu§iga de Varela said. "They are portraying a really false identity of what you're supposed to look like and how things should go down in terms of relationships."
As chairman of the outreach committee of Teatro Nuevo MÇxico, Zu§iga de Varela, is working with Youth Development Inc., a nonprofit agency that helps at-risk youth and provides them with different programs, some of them artistic. Zu§iga de Varela will teach stage combat and other acting exercises to kids. She is also working with Longfellow Elementary to establish a theater curriculum.
Mar°a Varela, another member of the founding board of Teatro Nuevo MÇxico would like to expand the program and get involved with other communities.
"I'm very interested in reaching out to the Mexicano community, to people who have come up first generation from Mexico," she said. "There's a lot of talent there, a lot of energy. I would like to see them become part of our company."
