Taken from the press release:
(August 19, 2024) HERO Theatre announces the cast for the world premiere of Luzmi by Diana Burbano, performing at The Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles. Luzmi, devised and directed by HERO Theatre Producing Artistic Director Elisa Bocanegra, marks the U.S. premiere of HERO Theatre and HERO Multimedia’s Nuestro Planeta, a new works commissioning initiative rooted in research around environmental justice issues happening in Latine countries and how Latine American families are directly affected.
The production stars Helena Betancourt, Stephanie Hoston, Emanuel Loarca, Adrian Manzano, Peter Mendoza, Bibiana Navas, Adrian Quinonez, and Carla Valentine. Colombian native Bibiana Navas – who is making her U.S. stage debut – is most known for her roles in Pedro el escamoso (2001), La Nieta Elegida (2021), Witches Girl (2013) and Paraíso Blanco (2023).
Nuestro Planeta: COLOMBIA, Luzmi is about a young woman, Luzmi, played by Stephanie Hoston, who travels back to her birthplace of Colombia, a place she left as a child, to learn more about her family after her mother’s recent death. The play begins with a trip to the lush coffee-growing mountains of Colombia and follows her into the Amazon rainforest, where she searches for the answers to a dark secret her mother kept. Based on two research trips to the Amazon rainforest with Producing Artistic Director Elisa Bocanegra, the play educates audiences about the rich biodiversity of Colombia and the environmental injustices indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest face. The play will be presented in English and subtitled in Spanish.
The research, development, and production of Luzmi is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, The MAP Fund, and Fulbright Colombia. Devisor and director Elisa Bocanegra received both a MAP Award and a Fulbright Award for environmental research in Colombia.
Nuestro Planeta: COLOMBIA, Luzmi performs from October 3rd to October 27th at Inner-City Arts, located at 720 Kohler St, Los Angeles, CA 90021. Tickets and more information are available at www.herotheatre.org or 323-206-6415.