The River Bride
THE CREATIVE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES:
Producer- Raymond Bobgan
Stage Manager- Julie C. Okuley
Assistant Stage Manager- Georgina Galindo-Godinez
Costume Designer- Desiree Monique Anderson
Music By – Moises Borges
Sound Operator- Mónica Cerpa Zúñiga
Set and Light Designer- Benjamin Gantose
Technical Director- Garrett Markgraf
Sound Designer- Megan Slabach
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Marisela Treviño Orta
Marisela Treviño Orta is an accidental playwright. Originally from Lockhart, Texas, she found her way to the genre while completing an MFA in Writing at the University of San Francisco (USF) where she studied poetry exclusively. While a student at USF, Marisela became the Resident Poet of El Teatro Jornalero!, a social justice theatre company comprised of Latinx immigrants.
Marisela’s first play Braided Sorrow (2008 Su Teatro world premiere) won the 2006 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize in Drama and the 2009 Pen Center USA Literary Award in Drama. Her other plays include: American Triage (2012 Repertorio Español Nuestras Voces Finalist); Ghost Limb (2017 Brava Theatre world premiere); Heart Shaped Nebula (2015 Shotgun Players world premiere); Shoe (2019 Kendeda Finalist); Return to Sender (2019 Nashville Children’s Theatre world premiere); and Woman on Fire (2016 Camino Real Productions world premiere).
In 2011, she began writing her cycle of grim Latinx fairy tales—fairy tales for adults inspired by Latinx mythology and folklore which include: The River Bride (2013 National Latino Playwriting Award Co-Winner, 2016 Oregon Shakespeare Festival world premiere); Wolf at The Door (2016 Kilroys List, 2018/2019 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere); and Alcira.
Marisela is an alum of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, the Playwrights Foundation’s Resident Playwright Initiative, a founding member of the Bay Area Latino Theatre Artists Network, and a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons’ national Steering Committee.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: bridgett martinez
Bridgett is a Puerto Rican director, actor, and teaching artist born and raised here in Cleveland. Most recently, Bridgett was a 2021 Support for Artists grant recipient at Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center, producing and directing an original play titled Like Me. Other directing credits include Memorial (Assistant Director) with Teatro Público de Cleveland/Borderlands Theater at CPT’s 2021 Station Hope and 12,000 Steps (Assistant Director/Teaching Artist) Y-Haven Theatre Project at CPT. Acting credits include The Hunchback of Seville, Hedda Gabler, Vejigantes (Kent State University), Denied Admission (Gum-Dip Theatre). She received her BFA from Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance and serves as a supporting teaching artist for CPT’s education programs. Bridgett is a member of the Greenhouse, a cohort of Ohio-based theatre makers (seatofthepants.org/greenhouse).
The River Bride on La Mega Cleveland
Click here or the image to watch Alisha Caraballo, cast member and co-chair of the Teatro Público de Cleveland leadership committee, and Bridgett Martinez, Director The River Bride, speak about their experience and what this performance means for representation in the Latinx community in Cleveland.
ABOUT TEATRO PÚBLICO DE CLEVELAND
In 2013, Cleveland Public Theatre launched Teatro Público de Cleveland, Cleveland’s first Latinx theatre company, whose work reflects the artistic goals, interests, and ideals of its members.
Teatro Público de Cleveland inspires inter/intra-cultural exchange through thought-provoking, bilingual storytelling and performances that foster social consciousness and build community.
TPC is governed by the TPC Leadership Committee: Mónica A. Cerpa Zúñiga (Chair), Alisha M. Caraballo (Vice Chair), Letitia Lopez, Gilberto Peña, and Blanca Iris García Salva.