Z Space has cancelled all performances in 2020, including the remaining performances of Retablos.
Word for Word presents:
Retablos
By Octavio Solis
Featuring the Chapters Retablos, The Way Over, Consuelo, El Judío, La Migra, La Llorona, Nothing Happens, The Quince, Mexican Apology, El Segundo, Neto, and My Right Foot
February 19 - March 15
Directed by Sheila Balter and Jim Cave
2 acts, 2 hours, plus a 15 minute intermission
Word for Word’s latest full production is from author & playwright Octavio Solis. Retablos is a coming of age memoir; each chapter a memory tale, verging on fable, which paints a dreamlike picture of life in El Paso in the 60’s and ’70’s. Drawing from his own childhood, Solis says that he wrote these stories "to see how that skinny brown kid riding his bike out there in the desert made sense of his complicated, deeply beautiful and troubled world." Octaviosolis.net
“A retablo is a devotional painting, playwright Octavio Solis tells us. In this poignantly written, heart-warming coming-of-age memoir, Solis pays tribute to those cornerstone moments in his life, negotiating borders at once personal and cultural, with such color that the reader is left spellbound. Astonishing, what more can I say?”
—Greg Sarris, author of How a Mountain Was Made and longtime Word for Word friend
The Retablo
The Retablo in the lobby, created by Susana Aragón, is up for auction to the highest bidder, in support of Word for Word’s artistic programming! To make a bid, please contact Susan Harloe at sharloe@zspace.org
Cast
Maria Candelaria*
Edie Flores
Carla Gallardo
Gendell Hernández*
Gabriel Montoya
Brady Morales-Woolery*
Regina Morones
Ryan Tasker*
*Member, Actors’ Equity
Designers and Crew
Directed by Sheila Balter and Jim Cave
Cultural Consultant: Carolina Morones
Original Music and Sound Design: David R. Molina
Set Design: Nina Ball+ Lighting Design: Jeff Rowlings+
Costumes: Callie Floor+
Dramaturg: Karina Gutiérrez
Choreographer: Carolina Morones
Graphic Design: Sendy Santamaria
+Member, United Scenic Artists
PRESS RESOURCES
The dedicated press agent for this show is David Hyry, who can be reached at daldenh@aol.com.
in the media
SF CHRONICLE REVIEW
““Retablos” insists that there’s meaning to be found in quiet. It asserts that the thing that happened only in your mind when you were a teenager is valid and valuable, even if the only way you can prove it to the outside world is through the force of your conviction, the vividness of your observation. Even if all you have is unshowy, conversational language that still somehow spans horizons and reaches skyward..”’ - Lily Janiak
TALKIN BROADWAY REVIEW
"Under the direction of Sheila Balter and Jim Cave, the chapters feel like tiny polished gems that...glitter and gleam like a priceless necklace of memory."
- Patrick Thomas
SF CHRONICLE PICK
‘“In the dreamy pieces, the narrator can be a teen and an adult all at once, or characters can guffaw and sob at the same time.”’ - Lily Janiak
SF WEEKLY FEATURE
‘“I wanted to write this as a tribute to her [Consuelo],” Solis tells SF Weekly. He wrote it as if it were one voice but the directors, Balter and Jim Cave, found a way to incorporate 8-10 voices in telling the story. “That’s the magic of Word for Word. They know how to distribute the text in a way that makes it feel incredibly theatrical. And almost like dialogue, like they’re talking to each other.”’ - Jeffrey Edalatpour
FOR ALL EVENTS
“Word for Word brilliantly creates the visual aspect [of the retablos]”
-Kedar Adour
THEATRE EDDYS
"How can one not walk out of Z Space and this fabulously insightful and moving Word for Word production and not want to rush immediately to City Lights Bookstore to purchase a copy of the full fifty chapters of Octavio Solis’ Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border?" - Eddie Reynolds
STUDENT MATINEES
Word for Word is proud to host 5 student matinee performances of Retablos for local Bay Area Schools! This project is made possible with support from California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org
Our student matinees for Retablos are currently full, but if you are interested in bringing your class to an evening performance of Retablos or to a Word for Word student matinee in the future, or if you want more information about Word for Word's Youth Arts, contact Youth Arts Program Coordinator, Amy Prosser at aprosser@zspace.org.
