Zoetrope is an innovative, hybrid theatrical experience that intertwines film and theater to delve into Puerto Rico’s political landscape. Inspired by real letters between Lares and Manhattan, the play follows the story of Severino, a military postal worker who emigrates to New York in the 1950s in search of a better life. Then it tells the story of his widow, her sister, their son, the playwright René Marqués, and el Grito de Lares. Through a fragmented narrative that mixes flashbacks, parallel cuts, and live video, Zoetrope brings to life generations of a working family marked by love, politics, and loss, and offers a kaleidoscopic view of rootlessness and memory.

Presented in English and Spanish, with supertitles in both languages.

Written and Directed by Javier Antonio González
Produced by Caborca and Anilom for the 62nd Festival de Teatro Puertorriqueño of the ICP

With Laura Butler Rivera, Yaraní del Valle, Javier Antonio González, Susannah Hoffman, Tania Molina, Kairiana Nuñez Santaliz, Pelé Sánchez Tormes, Veraalba Santa, David Skeist

Set by Jian Jung
Lighting and video by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Sound by Hao Bai
Costumes by Cristina Agostini Fitch
Stage Management by Erin Maureen Koster and Brooke Bell

This production of Zoetrope has received generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Latinx Theatre Initiative.

Zoetrope was first performed at Pregones Theater and developed through Artist Space at Pregones and in residency at the Loisaida Center. It was written in the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers’ Group.