Play

This year, the play writers and directors were given the monumental task of having to teach audiences about violence against women in the “skit” format that we all know. Managing the tension between the reality of that pain and the desire for Carnaval to be an uplifting show posed a challenge to us all. The play talks about the issue around femicide in Latin America within an imaginary city and country, Esperanza, Parodia, which was created to generalize the Latine experience.

The story follows Liliana, born in Esperanza, and Rodrigo, who grew up with Liliana but moved to the United States at a young age with his mother Ashley and brother Ricardo as their lives come together again. Liliana is our representative for women who are fighting every day in the name of protecting women in Latin America. As student playwrights and directors, research and outside guidance to learn more about the heartbreaking phenomenon of femicide was crucial to the play. We hope that this work will be the start of a conversation on our campus about the state of gender violence, both in our communities and across the world.