In 2019, La Tropa, South Carolina’s only Spanish theater company, wrote and produced a bilingual play called “Ceviche o no Ceviche”. The comedy dealt with cultural shocks in every sense of the term, from culinary to linguistic, geographical and sexual.
The plot is frightening: a family from Colombia travels to Columbia for the wedding of their daughter Sol to her American lover, Keith. But she really is only going to marry Keith to stay in the United States. Sol is actually part of a happy polyamorous trio with Keith and her mutual boyfriend, Robert.
Chaos ensues quickly as families gather for the wedding. Linda, Keith’s mother, falls in love with Sol’s uncle, a priest. Serious language barriers complicate an already complex situation, and Americans cannot understand the idea of ceviche, a spicy South American seafood dish, usually made from fresh raw fish.
And it turns out that this is just the beginning of the story.
La Tropa produced a new sequence for the play, called “Ceviche o no Ceviche: COVID-19 Edition”, filmed and prepared to debut virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the first one; at the beginning of the new play, there is a recap of what happened in the “previous episode”.
At the end of the original play, the unfortunate Colombian family is trapped in South Carolina, prevented from returning home due to a hurricane. The priest and Keith’s mother fled together, and the polyamorous trio is on their honeymoon. At the opening of the second chapter, the family is still in the United States, trapped by travel restrictions due to COVID-19.
If all of this sounds a bit like a crazy soap opera storyline, it should.
“That play in 2019 ended up becoming more like a soap opera,” said Alejandro Garcia Lemos, who created the connecting animation sequences for the film. “A kind of soap opera, and a little different from most of our plays, because most of them have always had some kind of reflection on social and immigration issues. This one has some of this because one of the main characters is facing deportation. But that was a little bit more extravagant, a little more fun. “
Betsy Newman, who directed the original play and its filmed sequence, sees the COVID-19 edition of “Ceviche o no Ceviche” as a continuation of the novel’s idea, but at a deeper level.
“What happens with soap operas is that, like soap operas in this country, they deal with social issues, in the case of COVID or different approaches to sexuality”, he explains. “We see it as a soap opera on stage, or in this video iteration. We hope in the future to shoot like a soap opera ”.
Due to pandemic restrictions in the real world, the show, again written in collaboration by La Tropa, unfolds in a series of individual monologues. Cast members filmed their roles using Zoom or on their cell phones.
History shows the coronavirus taking its toll.
“When this version starts, it is after the release of COVID,” said Newman. “And Keith is dying of COVID in the hospital. You hear each of the other characters that were in the original play, and each of them is effectively talking about how they are dealing with COVID and Keith’s death. “
If that sounds a little morbid, know that there is still a lot of comedy in the sequel.
“The bride’s mother is cutting all her husband’s shirts and making masks out of them without telling him,” said Newman. “She is making masks for every outfit and every mood. And the priest is dealing with his sexuality because he has been a priest all his life. Therefore, Linda is thinking of ways to help her lover with her sexual problems. She slides that little blue pill at him, and she is ordering things from Victoria’s Secret, so their romance is advancing hesitantly. “
“The whole thing has to do with sex and how to deal with COVID,” she added, summarizing things.
Regardless of style, Newman said La Tropa’s alliance with Trustus Theater, with which the company has worked in the past and which will feature a debut screening and commentary on the new film this weekend, was vital to its survival in the last decade. .
“We have produced several shows at Trustus over the years,” she recalled. “(Former managing director) Larry Hembree was very interested in expanding the diversity of Trustus’ offerings, and (current artistic production director) Chad Henderson is, too.”
And as for the subject only for the adult audience, Newman said that Trustus was on board from the beginning.
“I just remember Larry saying, ‘We’re not doing shows for kids,'” she laughed.
“Ceviche o No Ceviche: COVID-19 Edition”
March 20. 8 pm free. Virtual screening followed by talkback. facebook.com/TrustusTheatre.
Post and Courier Columbia / Free Times artistic coverage is funded by a grant from the Knight Foundation Fund of the Central Carolina Community Foundation.