In his native New York City, award-winning performer and playwright Mark-Eugene Garcia is known for his vast body of work on the stage as well as in films. Garcia’s performance resume runs the gamut from drama to comedy to horror. As a seasoned actor, Garcia undoubtedly knows the importance of a meaningful story to create a rewarding experience for the audience, either on the screen or live on stage. Indeed, the power of storytelling is the focus of his provocative Eight Tales of Pedro: specifically, telling stories of HOPE that family and friends can share. As one of the characters states early on in the play, “All in favor of the stories of hope, raise your hands!” Directed by Rodrigo Ernesto Bolanos and now playing at Queens Theatre, Garcia’s intensely entertaining play gives a vivid look inside a piece of the Mexican and Mexican-American experience, weaving both past and present. The production is brought to life by the playwright’s full-blooded characters and by his loving reverence for Spanish and Latin American folklore. (It is worth noting that the stories of “Pedro Urdamales” and “Juan Bobo” [More about him later…!] have been told for hundreds of years.) Adorned by live music by Luis D’Elias, Garcia’s play not only reminds us that these tales of inspiration will be with us for eternity, but also that these precious stories serve as MORE than just entertainment or as a conduit for family bonding. As we see with the characters in Eight Tales of Pedro, storytelling can also serve as a survival mechanism in increasingly uncertain times.
0 Comments
Mark’s website describes him as a writer, an actor, and a storyteller. His play with music Eight Tales of Pedro (written with Luis D’Elias) is playing NOW and at the Queen Theatre. And he’s here for the Flaherty & Aherns that is small and beautiful and breaks your damn heart.
Topics include: writing to Stephen Flaherty, Confession, being a smart 15-year-old dealing with some shit, The Opposite of Sex: The Musical, and fan-boy-ing out. Recorded LIVE at the Drama Book Shop! |
Mark-Eugene GarciaWriter/Actor/Storyteller. Theatre Maker. Husband. Bad Hombre. Cat Taunter. ContentsArchives
July 2023
Topics
All
|