Non-Profit Spotlight: Palabrandar Theatre Company

Community theatre is alive and well in the Rio Grande Valley, creating art that inspires, educates, and entertains. Palabrandar Theatre Company, founded in October of 2024, entered the spotlight with the mission to produce live, high-quality theatrical entertainment, provide creative outlets that foster camaraderie, and present art to educate our local communities. Meaning “walking words,” Palabrandar strives for their work to go beyond words written on a page, and explore the diversity and complexity of the human experience through theatre performance.

Palabrandar seeks to use its platform for education, adopting the belief that education nurtures human freedom. It is the root of their teaching philosophy. They believe that we as human beings bear a responsibility to one another: to help when we can, to love all, and to take strength from the most unlikely places and use it to create hope where there was none.

In their inaugural season, the company selected works in line with the theme: “Under the Light of Two Suns”. The phrase symbolizes dual identities, cultural crossroads, and the yearning and tension from being part of two worlds. Their interpretation centers around borderlands, and issues of resistance, persistence, and transcendence. 

The season began with Echoes of Her, a series of 10-minute plays focused on women in the workforce, all written by local playwrights. The showcase provided a variety of characters’ perspectives from all walks of life, enduring the many challenges women face in their day-to-day lives. It challenged audiences to think of the women in their lives and the sacrifices, hardships, and compassion that shape them. The heartfelt performances proved to affirm the work they set out to do in their mission statement.

Their next selection, Boleros for the Disenchanted, written by Jose Rivera, continues on the journey towards the exploration of the diverse, complex human experience. The story follows Flora, a young Puerto Rican woman, as she deals with the everyday reality of marriage and the often undignified struggle to hold on to love in the face of life’s unexpected challenges. Performances will take place on June 27th & 28th at the Edinburg Municipal Auditorium, and tickets are available for purchase on their Facebook and Instagram pages and their website.

For more information on how you can be a part of their next production in any capacity visit palabrandartheatrecompany.wordpress.com, or follow them on Facebook (Palabrandar Theatre Company) and Instagram (@palabrandartheatrecompany).