In March of 1964, Humberto Alvarez and his wife set off with
some of their relatives and closest friends in a fishing boat for the United States.
Among the 25 refugees aboard was their youngest son Jay, a little boy just four and
a half years old whose life would be changed forever by the voyage.
As the boat started across the sea to the whispers of
desperate voices, the lights of the island began to fade as if the island
itself would vanish. As in the myth of Orpheus, it’s better not to look back.
It’s better to keep those far away lights bright like a living flame in their
hearts.
Be careful! The Sharks
Will Eat You!, written and performed
by Jay Alvarez, is an outstanding narrative of Humberto's carefully planned
strategy to escape with his family from Cuba to the United States, told through
the vivid images of his son’s childhood
memories. The show, which was recently presented in the New York
Fringe Festival, re-opens tonight at Stage Left Studio, where it will run through Tuesday, October 25.
Through the play's multiple characters, Alvarez brilliantly
embodies the members of his family and family friends involved in the trip,
sharply interweaving their inner worlds with well-researched, piercingly
in-depth details of the historical political background. As a character himself, Jay lives in a liminal
space; born in Cuba but raised in the United States, the island that “lives in
him” is a construction based on the tales of his parents and the practices the
family goes through in order to keep “that island” alive.
Jay Alvarez's ability to reconcile his bi-cultural self is touching. His
solo performance takes you in an emotional rollercoaster. You will laugh, you
will cry, you will grip your chair for the entire performance, and then leave
the theatre with an exhilarating energy that will remain with you for hours. So
plan on some coffee or café con leche after the show!
One of the most important aspects of the play is that it
doesn’t try to pick sides in the cynical game of power between two governments,
but instead focuses on the pains and struggles of Cuban immigrants and Cuban
Americans dealing with the sense of displacement so vividly reflected in the
utopian revisionism of their memories. It is refreshing to see such a delicate
theme presented like a big puzzle in the form of many separate lives, still
waiting to be put together into one big coherent picture. As Humberto Alvarez said to his son Jay many
years later “Sí m'ijo, I remember, immigration. We were now immigrants. We were
no longer the people we thought we were.”
Director Theresa Gambacorta’s vision, which focuses on the acting and rhythm of the multiple transitional characters, enhances the emotional load of the text creating a dreamlike atmosphere that is seamlessly effective, driving the audience to travel with the actor on his journey through the play.
Through
the Alvarez family’s story we become aware of the frailties that the
void of uncertainty can create, threatening and pushing us to make
decisions shaped by fear.
Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! Written by Jay
Alvarez and directed by Theresa Gambacorta. At Stage
Left Studio, 214 West 30th Street (between Seventh
& Eight Avenues), Sixth Floor. Wed-Fri, Sep 7-9, at 7:30 PM; Sun, Sep 11 at 2 PM; Sun, Oct 2 at 7:30 PM; Sun, Oct 9, 16 and 23 at 2 PM; Mon-Tue, Oct 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 at 7:30 PM. Tickets $20. For more information, visit www.StageLeftStudio.net
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