(CRANFORD, NJ) -- Union county is home to a vibrant Latinx community and for the fourth year the Hispanic Theatre Festival will take the stage at CDC Theatre in Cranford. This time the all-Spanish language play presented will be the award-winning comedy by Spaniard Alfredo Sanzol, "La Valentía", in its American premiere. If you like slapstick humor and a good ghost story, all told with the richness and beauty of Spanish language, plan to see “La Valentia”. The show runs September 9 & 10 at 8:00pm and September 11 at 2:00pm.
"La Valentía" is the story of two sisters who inherit the summer home of their childhood, only to discover upon moving in that a highway has been built 50 feet from the front door. Guada (played by Paula Carreiro of Berkeley Heights) loves the house, despite the noise; Trini (played by Milagros Cortes of Linden) cannot stand the noise and wants to sell the house. Trini decides to convince her sister that the house is haunted, so she hires two brothers -- los Hermanos Espectro (Willy Illas of Perth Amboy & Robert Asencio of Elizabeth) -- who make a living staging that sort of thing. In the meantime, Guada has rented out a bedroom through Airbnb to two guests, who -- surprise, surprise -- do happen to be ghosts! They are ancestors of Guada and Trini, and don't want the house to be sold. The two are played by Erwin Guerrero of Passaic and Andrea Lopez of Paterson.
"What I love about producing and directing a show like 'La Valentía'", said Joel Redmount of Scotch Plains, "is that our actors are truly excited to bring their heritage to the stage. Even though the play is written in colloquial Spanish from Spain, the actors bring their own unique voices from cultural backgrounds like Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The language truly captures what New Jersey embodies as a global mix.”
For the first time that the Hispanic Theatre Festival is slated for September and leads into Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15. Visit cdctheatre.org for tickets and more information. Group discounts can be arranged for schools and other organizations by e-mailing [email protected].
The CDC Theatre, which is celebrating its 104th Season of continuous community theatre, is located at 78 Winans Avenue in Cranford NJ.
