Teatro de la Luna debuts 12th International Festival of Hispanic Theater
Teatro de la Luna has started its 12th International Festival of Hispanic Theater with a one-man show from Colombia, Saulo Garcia's "El Insomnio Americano" ("The American Insomniac"). The play operates on two levels at once: On the surface it is a hilarious comedy, performed by its author. But the content of the comedy is serious stuff, regarding the realities of the American Dream, its promises to all and inaccessibility to many.

By: Barbara Mackay
Special to The Examiner

Garcia is a clown who sings, dances and improvises a good deal of the play as he goes along. His goal is to give an impression of the arrival in the United States of thousands of immigrants from all over Latin America, exploring their reasons for coming to the United States as well as their disappointments when they find out that the land of opportunity comes with some serious drawbacks.

At first Garcia is a young man going through customs, barely able to answer the government employee's questions. Then he tries valiantly to cope with everyday difficulties: finding work, sleeping on an uncomfortable sleeper-sofa, pumping gas at a self-serve station. Then he plays a guest from Latin America, lost, trying to use a pay phone, unable to speak English.

The tone of "El Insomnio Americano," is entertaining, as Garcia interacts with the audience and invites them to participate. Through it all, Garcia lightheartedly and intelligently portrays the way the American Dream can so easily turn into a nightmare. Yet behind all the joking is a sense that Garcia is still intensely connected to the land of his birth as well as to his adopted home, the United States.

If Garcia's first-rate work is any indication of the level of performance available at Teatro de la Luna through Nov. 21, the International Festival of Hispanic Theater will be an undisputed success.

The festival continues with Argentina's Grupo TeaTeatro, Oct. 22-24; Uruguay's Grupo del Sur, Oct. 29-31; Dominican Republic's Teatro Guloya, Nov. 5-7; United States' Teatro de la Luna, bilingual family show, Nov. 7 and 14; Venezuela's Ff Theatrical Productions Inc., Nov. 12-14; Argentina's Grupo Kill Bob, Nov. 19-21. All performances (except the children's performances) offer live English dubbing.

If you go

International Festival of Hispanic Theater

Where: Teatro de la Luna, Theater Two, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; through Nov. 21; children's theater -- 11:30 a.m. Nov. 7 and 14

Info: $30, discounts available; children's theater -- free to $10; 703-548-3092, 202-882-6227; teatrodelaluna.org. Most shows in Spanish with English dubbing.

By: Barbara Mackay
Special to The Examiner
October 18, 2009
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