Here is news on Boundless Theatre’s newest event coming up at the Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center this summer. “Mercado libre” will premiere from June 3 to June 12 at the Center (located at 1680 Lexington Avenue and 106th Street, New York). The play explores “the challenges of human dignity under capitalism, a topic that is vital to our current socio-political moment.” Here, we share excerpts from a review of the play “Mercado libre” (for full article, see Think Theater NYC.)

At a time when craft categories are not receiving the dues they deserve, in the film and theater world, comes a model theater company ahead of its times in giving recognition and a voice to the industry players that have long deserved it. Not only is Boundless Theatre (BT) led by female designers and designers of color, but their plays explore themes that challenge our social agreements, elevate humanity and honor the human condition.

This is exactly what their newest play, “Mercado Libre”, intends to do when it premieres on June 3rd, 2022 at the Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center (1680 Lexington Avenue) in East Harlem, El Barrio, NYC. Boundless Theatre’s new production will explore the challenges of human dignity under capitalism, a topic that is vital to our current socio political moment. 

The award-winning play, which runs until June 12th, is written in Spanish by playwright Luis Araújo, and it comes to the NYC stage after receiving accolades throughout its European stints. This is the first time ever that the show will be presented in the US and to a New York City audience.

Directed by Ismanuel Rodríguez, “Mercado Libre” tells the story of the complicated, and often dark, relationship between an influential lawyer and an undocumented prostitute; a duel between two characters played by seasoned Latinx theater actors Gerardo Gudiño and Diana Pou ensues and brings to life the embodiment of a broken system we cannot seem to escape. At its core, the play offers an almost clinical exploration of how capitalism informs our lives to the point that we distort the concepts of what is and isn’t valuable, and live blind to social injustice. In this distorted but normalized existence everything has a price, even life.

Bringing artists from Puerto Rico to NYC, the play also features a Latinx creative team producing Spanish-language professional theater, diversifying the professional theater offerings available in NYC. The play will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles.

“Audiences can expect to walk out of the play having witnessed a parallel universe, awakened to the ways in which our concepts of love, humanity, of what has value or doesn’t are distorted daily. This is truly an unconventional piece both in subject matter and the production itself. The scenic images not only arise from reality, but also from the psychology of the characters,” shared Rodríguez.

Boundless Theatre is no stranger to using its platform as a space to work out powerful conversations and foster actions that positively transform the world. Led by designers, an uncommon practice in an industry where companies are mainly led by actors, the company runs several programs that support diversifying the theater industry. These include Boundless Exposed, a mentoring program for early career designers of color, a highly underrepresented group in professional theater; and El Barrio Raíces, an annual, free-of-charge summer theater program offering bilingual, age-appropriate arts curriculum designed by experienced theater professionals to children living in NYC, among others. 

[All NYC and CDC safety protocols will be followed. The use of a mask is mandatory. Get tickets at www.boundlesstheatre.org.]

See full article at https://www.thinkingtheaternyc.com/2022/05/news-boundless-theatre-to-stage-us.html