The 73rd Avenue Theatre Company is going above and beyond the confines of a regular theatrical play. Information for Foreigners asks that the audience participate and interact with actors during the production. The play is a walking play in which audience members accompany actors to different scenes in different rooms of the playhouse. The audience will even find themselves unexpectedly on stage and watching actors perform in their seats.
Information for Foreigners, written by Griselda Gambaro, is a thought provoking and disturbing tale of the realities of the brutality and torture in Argentina during the 1970’s fascist regime. The drama exposes the horrific cruelty of the time and makes audience members think about our current world.
The show is directed by Maru Garcia, one of the founders of the 73rd Avenue Theatre Company. Garcia has directed the show twice before, once two years ago in Denver and once in Mexico. Garcia describes the show as “disturbing, shocking, and something that stays with you and puts you in a different frame of mind.”
The cast of the show is tight, both in their unity as actors and in their acting skills. Lines were delivered beautifully, some, frightful and brutal, others melancholy and spine tingling. In a discussion following the show, the cast shared their sentiments on the play and what their roles mean to them. One cast member, Ana, noted the play was close to home for her because her grandfather had died in prison for a crime he hadn’t committed in Lithuania. “These things really happen,” she said.
Another member noted the show points out both the freedoms we receive as Americans, but also that we need to see the play as a warning to what is still happening all over the world and in our own backyards. Many other cast ...