Who: Edgar Ramírez, Moisés Kaufman, Jonathan Jakubowicz, Daniela Bascopé, Elba Escobar, María Gabriela de Farias, Rafael De La Fuente, Christian McGaffney, Iván Tamayo, Franklin Virguez, Amanda-Lynn Williams
What: Livestreamed performance of selections from new play and Q&A
Where: YouTube and Zoom
When: Tuesday, October 6, free with RSVP, 7:00
Why: New York City’s Tectonic Theater Project and Florida’s Miami New Drama are teaming up to present the world premiere of select scenes from Tectonic founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman’s first Spanish-language play, Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard. Written and directed by the Caracas-born Kaufman (33 Variations, The Laramie Project), the work is based on the novel by Venezuelan author and filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz that became a rallying cry for the anti-Maduro movement. “I’ve witnessed my native country devastated by the Bolivarian Revolution. Chavez, Maduro, and their amoral cronies and henchmen have bankrupted one of the richest countries in the world, and brought about famine, disease, and scarcity of basic goods,” Kaufman said in a statement. “I’ve been eager to write a play about the situation there but couldn’t do it because I’ve been gone for twenty-five years. But then I read Jonathan’s novel and I knew I’d found the story I wanted to tell. This play wouldn’t be allowed to be performed in Venezuela today — but the online preview will allow Venezuelans to see it; in fact, all of Latin America will be able to see it, and that fills me with great joy.” The play features Daniela Bascopé, Elba Escobar, María Gabriela de Farias, Rafael De La Fuente, Iván Tamayo, Franklin Virguez, Amanda-Lynn Williams, and Christian McGaffney as the title character.
“If you multiply the money made by Al Capone by the money made by Pablo Escobar and adjust for inflation, you would still be nowhere near the amount of cash that has been stolen by Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro,” Jakubowicz added. “They have undoubtedly performed the biggest robbery of all time, and it’s all been done in the name of socialism. The Adventures of Juan Planchard is an inside look at how this mafia operates. I wrote it as a desperate attempt to reach my fellow Venezuelans, and never dreamed that it would become an international bestseller. It also never crossed my mind that one of my all-time heroes, Moisés Kaufman, would end up adapting it for the stage. When I saw the first reading of his play, I was blown away. And I know that fans of the novel, and those who have never read it, will be both physically and intellectually seduced by Juan Planchard, his adventure, and his immense moral dilemma.” Following the prerecorded performance on YouTube, Kaufman, Jakubowicz, and Miami New Drama artistic director Michel Hausman will participate in a live Zoom Q&A. The fully staged show is scheduled to be performed in person, with an audience, at the Colony Theater in summer 2021 if regulations allow.