The center has some milestones coming up in its growth. Artistic director Franco shares insights on its ongoing evolution.
CreArte Latino Cultural Center is a local Spanish-language arts group. If it just popped up on your radar, you might think it has just been born. The nonprofit has actually been around since 2012.
CreArte Latino was its first incarnation: a Spanish-language theater troupe doing a few plays a year on borrowed stages. In 2017, the troupe moved into a home of their own — a theater near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. That space was adequate, if a bit noisy.
Now they’re building a new home — and it’s going to be state of the art. The pandemic had interrupted this project. But work has resumed, and their new, 4,500 square-foot facility is almost done.
We spoke to Carolina Franco about this milestone. She’s CreArte Latino Cultural Center’s artistic director, president and co-founder. As she sees it, the group’s new name reflects its creative evolution. And that evolution has just begun.
No pressure … but are you ready to launch your new space?
Yes … almost. We still have a few loose ends. But we plan to open on Sept. 10, and I think we’ll meet the deadline. It’s all thanks to our volunteers — not just our own team members but people from across the community who believe in our mission. We obviously have to pay for things like electrical services and the fire alarm. But most of the work is donated labor. Our volunteers are just amazing!
IF YOU GO
CreArte Latino Cultural Center
When: 2021-2022 Season to be announced in September
Where: 8251 15th St. E., Sarasota
Info: CreArteLatino.org
What can we expect on your new stage? Have you nailed down your 2021-22 season yet?
Yes. We know what shows we’ll perform, we just don’t know when. The run dates are still in flux, but we should announce them very soon.
What’s one of your favorite plays in the new season?
I really love “Taxímetro Adulterado” by Felipe Vallejo — a fantastic Colombian playwright. He gave us the rights to stage his play with our own actors. We’re the only theater company in the world who got his permission. It was such an honor for us. We did four runs before the pandemic — now we’re bringing it back for our new season.
How would you describe the play?
It’s a comedy and a love story. Hopefully, our audience will leave happier than they did coming in. People really need that right now.
What’s the heart of the story?
Matilde is a taxi driver for whom a routine night turns into a fun psychoanalysis after picking up the last passenger on her shift. A "safe" and ultra-feminist executive dedicated to the oil business named Luis. This oil czar just broke up with his fiancée.
Between battered advice from an extroverted and humorous taxi driver she cannot believe that there is a man who complains about things that women usually complain about; the race turns into a fun discussion of genders and social strata. In the midst of this mutual relief, they decide to change roles without imagining that by playing games, an accident would change their lives forever.
Danilo, a famous psychic who works for a television channel in the morning program, is run over with the taxi. He is suffering from cataleptic attacks which makes them think that he is dead. When he wakes up, in the midst of the confusion, he faces a couple of incredulous whom he will try to manipulate with his "visions", without knowing that in the end he will be the manipulated one because Matilde and Luis will give him a great teaching that at the same time will release a secret that he had never dared to reveal as a public figure. Inside this taxi the three of them will learn that the most important thing in life is: to be yourself.
I love your connection to a Colombian playwright. I’m imagining a global network of Spanish-speaking theater talents.
There really is such a network. We’re connected to talented playwrights from all over Spain and Latin America. We have many great relationships — especially with Román Sarmentero, a playwright from Argentina. He once said, “Playwrights have the power to make anyone immortal. I want to make my wife immortal.” So, he wrote a play for this wife called “Welcome Alicia” in 2019. It extremely important to him, but the play was new, and nobody had produced it yet. He offered it to us at the end of 2019 — and he actually flew to Sarasota to see our world-premiere. It was a magical moment for us. Argentina was not so far away anymore.
How so?
Before Román arrived, we had a close relationship with email, messenger, things like that. After he got here, he felt like a visiting friend from across town. It was easy to forget he had to make a trans-continental flight.
Yes. But we also think locally, and that’s very important. We also support a network of Spanish-speaking talents who live right here in our community.
You’re giving them a stage — literally.
Yes. Our actors are a mix of veterans from hundreds of plays and total newbies. We’ve given many local actors their start. One woman was very into fashion design. That was her dream. But she gave acting a try with us. After just one time on stage, she was hooked. She said, “I like fashion design, but I love acting. Now, that I’ve done it, I know what I want to do with my life!”
Let’s get back to your upcoming season. What’s your second favorite play?
They’re all my favorites! And I really want to say, we’re doing more than plays this season. We’re also doing a celebration of Spanish Heritage Month; a show featuring a Spanish-speaking comedian; a bilingual improv night; and a concert of music from the Andes. We’ve also featured dance and visual arts in our past seasons and different classes and workshops. You see what these art forms have in common?
Not off the top of my head.
Music, art, dance — these are all ways to communicate without words and reach out to a larger audience. That’s one big reason we became a cultural center.
Do you remember the day you made that choice?
It was more like a gradual evolution than a big decision. CreArte Latino started out with a single focus: Make live theater accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences. So, that’s what we did — and it’s all we did. We kept reminding people: “The theater, the theater. That is our identity!” But our identity was slowly changing. We started doing a few concerts along with the plays. Then we added other events, like guitar lessons, language classes, book clubs, and art classes. We never stopped growing and expanding our work for the community. In the process, our mission evolved. We finally had to realize: “We’re more than a Spanish language theater company now. We’re doing the work of a cultural center.” That’s why we changed our name in 2019.
You embraced what you’d already become.
I’d say that’s correct. And that really was a big decision! But the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation has totally supported our evolution. Just this year, they blessed us with an amazing $71,000 grant. They truly believe in our mission. Their grant allows us to hire permanent staff for the very first time! We’re so incredibly grateful.
So what’s in a name? What does 'CreArte Latino Cultural Center' say about your new identity?
It says we’re a true cultural center for the Hispanic/Latino community — and cultural ambassadors to the greater community. It says we’ve evolved and changed and grown. And we plan to keep growing in the future!
Source: Yourobsrever.com