Festival Latino Is Shifting Emphasis, By Jeremy Gerard / The New York Times, July 8, 1987







The 11th Festival Latino in New York, featuring seven theatrical productions, a film festival and a free concert, will run from Aug. 1 through 23 at the Public Theater in Greenwich Village, the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and at the Metro Cinema on upper Broadway. The festival, which will include presentations from the United States, Latin America and Spain, has been produced by Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival since 1984.

The festival will open with an English-language production of ''Pancho Diablo,'' written by Carlos Morton and directed by Vicente Castro. The show will mark the New York stage debut of Fernando Allende, a Mexican actor who has appeared on the ''Miami Vice'' and ''Flamingo Road'' television series. The playwright was the winner of the 1986 New York Shakespeare Festival National Contest for Latino Plays. ''We wanted to present the best Latin talent in the United States,'' Cecilia Vega, a co-director with Oscar Ciccone, of the festival, said yesterday, in announcing the program. ''Pancho Diablo'' will run through Aug. 7 at the Public, as will all the theatrical productions.
The Argentine actress Norma Aleandro, who appeared in a solo show at last year's festival, will return in the title role of Mario Vargas Llosa's ''Senorita of Tacna.'' It will run Aug. 14 through 23.

In contrast with last year's festival, which included 34 productions given brief runs, this year's will provide greater exposure for fewer plays. Ms. Vega said that an emphasis had been placed, in choosing the participants, on the established reputations of the companies and their directors. Most of the productions in the festival will offer simultaneous translations.

The other theater productions include ''Las Bacantes,'' presented by La Cuadra de Sevilla, a Spanish company under the direction of Salvador Tavora, from Aug. 1 through 9; ''The Tragi-Comedy of Calixto and Malibea,'' a production of Venezuela's Rajatabla Company, directed by Carlos Gimenez, from Aug. 10 through 17; ''The Cockpit,'' presented by the Argentine company, La Comedia Cordobesa, from Aug. 1 through 6; ''The Clowns of Hope,'' staged by Claudio di Girolamo and produced by the Taller Teatro Dos, of Chile, from Aug. 19 through 23, and Las Bohemias, a female musical group from Puerto Rico, in ''Concerto in Hi-Fi,'' from Aug. 20 through 23. 

Singers from Cuba and Puerto Rico will highlight a free Concert for Peace and Friendship, at the Delacorte Theater on Aug. 10 at 8 P.M. The film program will include a tribute to Argentine films at the Public, and a Latin American film festival at the Metro Cinema, on Broadway at 99th Street. All feature films have English subtitles.
Tickets for the theater events at Festival Latino go on sale July 9 and are $15. All of the films are $5. For general information on the festival, call 598-7155 after July 9.




Transcripción y Fuente: Gabriel Flores