City Theatre Miami and NSU Theatre collaborate on seven short plays

By Francesca Abarca and Kayla McGee •

PHOTO BY ALLANA POPHAM
Anne Sylvie Jean Louis, senior psychology major (Anika), Jade Gomez, sophomore theatre major (Jenni) and Noelia Olivero, junior theatre major (Nikita) rehearse scenes from the play, “Work It, Bitch.”

City Theatre Miami is partnering with the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts to perform “From Page to Stage,” a collection of five plays and two musicals, at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 and 5, and 2 p.m. on Oct. 6 in the Black Box Theatre.

The plays are “Misdialed,” “Stiletto Envy,” “Telephones and Bad Weather,” “The Forgotten Place” and “Work It, Bitch.” The musicals are “Baked Goods” and “Warped.” The program will last around 75 minutes.

Twenty-two NSU students are acting in the production and sixteen students are part of the crew.

Alex Alvarez, assistant professor in DCMA, is the director of “Warped” and “The Forgotten Place.” Alvarez said students benefit from collaborating with professionals outside of the NSU community.

“NSU is always looking for professional partnerships for our theatre [program] to help our students get practical experiences as education is the most important goal,” Alvarez said.

Amanda Alonso, senior theatre major, is the student director of “Work it, Bitch.” Alonso wants to focus on comfortability and creating a safe space for everyone involved, whether through doing warm-ups or helping actors work with heavy topics including code switching and homophobia.

“Work it, Bitch” has heavy themes like code-switching. Code-switching is when people speak differently depending on who they are relating to. Gender, race, culture, and profession, for example, can all prompt code-switching.

“I love all things psychological and ‘Work it, Bitch’ is about code-switching, specifically in a professional environment. So being able to incorporate my psychology background into this and working with a diverse cast was a fun idea,” Alonso said.

Alonso mentions that because the shows focus on different themes such as classism, drug abuse and cult-like behaviors, the actors can help shed light on heavy topics that are relatable.

“It’s one fun date night where a bunch of topics are covered and it will just be a lot of fun,” said Sebastian Baena, actor, sophomore theatre major.

Admission is free for NSU students, faculty and staff. The cost for other guests is $5.