LA PALOMA PRISONER
La Lucha Arts, La Paloma Prisoner Project
La Paloma Prisoner Project, in association with La Lucha Arts and in partnership with Chelsea Factory, presents
LA PALOMA PRISONER,
by Raquel Almazán
Directed by Estefanía Fadul
Produced by Sam Morreale
Tuesday, December 10 at 7:00PM
Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00PM
Thursday, December 12 at 7:00PM
Friday, December 13 at 7:00PM
a panel discussion with decarceration advocates will be held after the 12/13 show (details at bottom of page)
Saturday, December 14 at 2:00PM & 7:00PM
Sunday, December 15 at 2:00PM
Ages 16+ suggested
Tickets: $15-30
Playwright & Co-Producer | Raquel Almazán
Director | Estefanía Fadul
Producer | Sam Morreale
Music Composition | Lissette Santiago
Scenic Design | Raul Abrego
Costume Design | Haydee Zelideth
Lighting Design | Carolina Ortiz
Sound Design | Daniela Hart & UptownWorks
Assistant Director | Téa Einarsen
Butoh Movement Choreography | Vangeline Theatre
Song Composer for “Vuela Paloma Vuela" | Julián Mesri
Fight & Intimacy Director | Lauren Kiele DeLeon
Production Stage Manager | Iván Dario Cano*
Assistant Stage Manager | Celina Revollar*
Community Engagement Director | Samara Gaev
Production Manager | Aislinn Ruth Curry
Social Media | Eva Pedriglieri
Key Art | Nathier Fernandez
Communications Manager | Denise Huza Peterson
Publicity | Blake Zidell and Associates
Cast | Raquel Almazán, Carlos Andrickson*, Ana Sophia Colón, Yadira Correa*, Adriana Gaviria*, Gladys Pérez*, Sol Miranda*, Bobby Plasencia* and Monica Steuer*
*Actors and Stage Managers appear courtesy of Actors Equity Association.
La Paloma Prisoner by Raquel Almazán is a multi-disciplinary play about the reclamation of identity by women in the Colombian prison system. Directed by Estefanía Fadul and based on the true stories of a group of incarcerated women selected as beauty queen contestants at the Buen Pastor prison in Bogotá, this new play interweaves the ritualistic journey of a “parade of prisoners” within Colombia’s social, political, and spiritual history. The play centers on an infamous woman nicknamed “La Paloma” who transcendentally soars beyond physical and societal barriers to avenge the raped women of Bogotá. Her actions revolutionize the women’s lives, Bogotá’s prison society, and the world beyond its walls.
Doors will open 30 minutes prior to each performance for a pre-show ritual.
Content Advisory: This show contains descriptions of sexual and domestic violence/abuse and other physical violence, loss of children, and grief.
About La Paloma Prisoner Project:
Developed across four countries, for over a decade, La Paloma Prisoner Project is a series of initiatives aimed at raising awareness and inciting action towards the end of global mass incarceration. The project includes programs designed to uplift the voices and narratives of current and formerly incarcerated women-identified folx of color through performances/ workshops in prisons, conversation circles, and panel discussions. This play was developed alongside community partnerships with organizations dedicated to serving people impacted by the criminal justice system.
Learn more
About La Lucha Arts:
Raquel Almazan is the Executive Artistic Director of La Lucha Arts that collaborates with arts organizations, communities and social initiatives to produce interdisciplinary theatre and media projects. Select Theatre Production credits: La Paloma Prisoner, La Negra, Café, Porning the Planet: The De-Sensitization of a Nation, The Latin is American play cycle lecture performance and She Wolves. The Indie Theatre Fund Prize for Leaders of Color, Artistic Directorship of La Lucha Arts. (Community Partner Collaboration selections: Close Rikers Campaign, Life Jacket Theatre, Brooklyn DA’s Re-entry task force and The United Nations).
About Raquel Almazán:
Raquel Almazán is an interdisciplinary artist, facilitator and activist. (M.F.A. – Playwriting, Columbia University). Their work has been featured Off-Broadway, throughout the United States and internationally in Greece, Italy, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Canada and Sweden; including several of their plays within the (Latin is America play cycle), bi-lingual plays in dedication to Latin American countries.
Recipient of the Map Fund, Doris Duke Grant Recovery Grant, NYFA-NYC Women’s Fund, NYSCA Grant and National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Grant, Kennedy Center’s Latinidad Award, Kate Neal Kinley Playwriting Fellowship, Eugene O’Neill Conference + The Playwrights Center residencies and the LGBTQ Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Playwriting Prize. Almazán has taught playwriting-theatre at Augsburg University through The Playwrights Center and The New School.
Their work has been presented/developed at selected orgs/venues: The Signature Theatre, Chelsea Factory, La Mama, The Lark, INTAR and Labyrinth Theatre Company. Off-Broadway Theatre Row, Pregones-PRTT, BRIC Arts, Reading: Lincoln Center- Classical Theatre of Harlem, Bushwick Starr reading, New Georges – Audrey residency and the Kennedy Center.
Almazán is the Executive Artistic Director of La Lucha Arts, dedicated to producing works in collaboration with social movements, and is the Co-President of the Board of Directors of IndieSpace.
Almazán is also a Member of The Dramatists Guild and SAG-AFTRA.
raquelalmazan.com
About Estefanía Fadul:
Estefanía Fadul is an NYC-based Colombian-American director and the co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre. Recent projects include the world premieres of Eva Luna by Caridad Svich (Repertorio Español), The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (Philadelphia Theater Company), and Carla’s Quince created with The Voting Project to mobilize Latiné voters to the polls (Drama League Award nomination). Estefanía has developed new work off-Broadway and regionally at the Public Theater, Playwrights’ Realm, NYTW, INTAR, Chautauqua, Audible, and more. She is a recipient of New York Stage and Film’s Pfaelzer Award, and fellowships including the Drama League Directors Project, O’Neill National Directors Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship, and Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español. She serves on the Drama League’s Board of Directors and the Latinx Theatre Commons advisory committee, is a New Georges affiliated artist, and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and SDC. B.A. Vassar College.
estefaniafadul.com
About Sam Morreale:
Sam Morreale (she/they) is a Facilitator in practice as an Artistic Producer, Director, Dramaturg, and Cultural Strategist who approaches their craft with a lens rooted in the creation of liberatory, human-centered systems. They are an avid supporter of art for social change and gravitate towards stories, people, and communities that uplift the lives of those who have been caught in the margins of society. Currently the Associate Producer at Soho Rep, Sam develops new, “risky,” innovative, and adventurous work that stirs the soul and invites change. Her work has brought her to several arts organizations - physically and virtually - including New York Stage and Film, Penumbra Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theater, Theatre Communications Group, Center Theater Group, Boston Court Pasadena, Breaking the Binary Theater, The Goodman Theater, and The New Harmony Project among others. B.A. Wesleyan University.
About New Georges:
New Georges founded in 1992, serves the largest ongoing working community of women and tgnc theater artists in New York City with career-transforming productions of unusual plays; a diverse slate of programs; and The Room, our workspace for women theater artists, celebrating its 25th birthday this year. Playwrights and directors for whom we were the source of a first production or an early artistic home are now a visible presence in every precinct of the American theater and every corner of our culture (including Heidi Schreck, Anne Kauffman, Marielle Heller, Diana Son, Jenny Schwartz, Sheila Callaghan, Rachel Chavkin, Tracey Scott Wilson, Lee Sunday Evans, Hilary Bettis, Lisa D'Amour). Honors for New Georges, its plays and its people include 3 Obie Awards, the National Theatre Conference Outstanding Theatre Award, The Lilly Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn and Kesselring prizes.
Panelists for the December 13 post-show discussion with decarceration advocates will include:
Samara Gaev | Truthworker Theatre Founder, Community Engagement Director for La Paloma Prisoner
Brigitte Harris | Impacted Women Ambassador for the La Paloma Prisoner Project
Roslyn Smith | Impacted Individual, Advocate with V-Day Productions
Donna Hylton | A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound
Jhody Polk | 2024 Global Freedom Fellow, Founder of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative at NYU Law School
This project is funded by:
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts
Chelsea Factory Artist Residency
The Map Fund Grant
NYSCA Grant in collaboration with (New York Theatre Workshop)
LMCC: Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Grant: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA)
2020 Community Fundraiser achieved on Kickstarter
Additional Support for La Paloma Prisoner Project initiatives:
NALAC National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Grant
Arthur J. Harris Memorial Prize for Arts in Social Justice
Health and Safety Protocols:
Masks are optional for this event.
While Chelsea Factory strongly recommends vaccination against COVID-19, proof of vaccination is not currently required for audience entrance into performances and public programs.
Click here for our full Health and Safety Protocols.
