MONOLOGUS LINGUS
A Night of Art, Literature & Theatre Dedicated to The Body
PRESS RELEASE: Miami, Florida (February 12, 2009)
Monologus Lingus: A Night of Art, Literature & Theatre Dedicated to The Body
“Our bodies are our gardens – our wills are our gardeners.”
-William Shakespeare
On Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 8pm at The New Light Studio/Gallery (226 Basin Drive, Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida 33308 ) The Krane (www.thekrane.com) in conjunction with The New Light Foundation, Inc (www.newlightgallery.org) presents Monologus Lingus – a series of monologues dedicated to the most sacred and most mundane subjects of all: The Body. From head to toe, hair follicle to facial expression, nine writers explore the burden and bliss of our anatomy as it contains us and sets us free.
How the show came to be --- a bit of history: Vanessa Garcia, the Artistic Director of The Krane, approached 8 writers studying and/or teaching at the University of Miami’s MFA program for creative writing. She gave them each a word and said: write a monologue. She did the same with Wendy White, Co-founder/Director of The New Light Foundation, who is also a writer and artist. The words Garcia handed out: Toes. Fingers. Hair. Lips. Eyes. Earlobes. Eyelashes. Nose. Heart. None of the writers knew that what the other writers were assigned. In this way, it was an experiment. What came together was a celebration of sex, desire, pain, and pleasure. A body of work (pun intended) filled with the sensations that abound as we take in the world around us.
“I wanted to bring writers together to write about something we all know about very personally. I love the idea of taking a subject and finding out how many different ways different minds can filter it, while at the same time finding unifying threads and connectors,” says Garcia of her experiment. “I was excited about the process and I’m really happy with the outcome. The actors really manage to bring these pieces to life and touch a nerve.”
The actors Garcia is referring to: Nicole Garcia, Valeria Zunzun, Martica De Cardenas, Paul O’Donnell, Tom Colucci, Julio Perez, Marilyn Gresh and Donna Lisa Valdes.
And for a $12 cover charge, the audience not only sits in on the performance but, following, is welcome to participate in a wine reception and an art auction. The show and auction are a fundraiser for The New Light Foundation, Inc. and The Krane to continue their theatrical performances throughout the world. All the pieces of art will also involve the subject matter of the body – a broad canvas, as we all know.
“Thanks to the triple effect of co-directing with Vanessa and Nicole Garcia, Monologus Lingus becomes a multi-dimensional theatrical playing field, which captivates all your senses,” states White. “I am confident that the audience will be transformed to appreciate their nose, ears, hair and toes like never before.”
The monologues are written by a group of accomplished and talented writers: Wendy White (www.newlightgallery.org ), Daniela Diaz, Margaret Cardillo, Paula Kolek , Mia Leonin (www.mialeonin.com ), Maureen Seaton (www.as.miami.edu/english/mfa/seaton -- who has just published a memoir entitled Sex Talks to Girls), Vanessa Garcia (www.vanessagarcia.org ), Meredith Danton, and Megan Roth (www.mrothillustration.com). In them Kolek explores the gulf that can exist between a man and a woman when touch is not enough to heal past wounds. Seaton takes the heart and pumps it full of rhythmic and typically incandescent poetry. Leonin draws on her Cuban lineage to create a story full of connects and dramatic disconnects – all a result of exile and migration. Diaz takes us into an argument between a husband and wife solved by a surprising twist. Roth delves into the nervous stutter and pre-date prep work we all go through; while Danton scratches the surface of her character’s skin in order to reveal the layers of hurt that lie beneath the gloss. Garcia takes a healer and makes her an opera singer; and White gets right down to the follicles, connecting human relationships to our hair. Finally, Cardillo extends our lashes with mascara, dipping us into the life of a young girl who has lost her mother.
For more information, or to conduct an interview with either Wendy White or Vanessa Garcia about the show, please contact Vanessa at 305-450-9931 or Wendy at 954-829-0638. We look forward to telling you more! Or email us at contact@vanessagarcia.org OR wendywhitelight@hotmail.com
The New Light Foundation, Inc. is a Non-Profit Corporation whose mission is to provide arts, education, and cultural community outreach.
For advance tickets ($12). Please call Vanessa at The Krane: 305-450-9931. Or, Wendy White at The New Light Foundation, Inc: 954-829-0638. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Press for Monologus Lingus:
Packed House, Back to Back Sold Out Shows
Donna Lisa Valdes in “Eyelashes”
Marilyn Gresh in “Lips”
Marilyn Gresh as our Narrator
Nicole Garcia and Donna Lisa Valdes in “Eyelashes”
Nicole Garcia in “Earache”
Valeria Zunzun in “Toes”
