Cal State Long Beach Theater Arts Department presents “Bird in the Hand” by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, a story that takes a look into various themes and struggles surrounding a young man.
The play follows the events of a young man, Felix, during his senior year of high school. While working at his father’s Miami-based theme park dedicated to tropical birds, Felix dreams about the choices he has made.
Much like the caged exotic birds in the theme park, Felix feels caged as he struggles with finding freedom while reflecting on his culture as the son of Cuban immigrants and his sexual identity.
The play is directed by Shanti Pillai, a CSULB assistant professor of Theater Arts, and Marc Gomes, an actor, writer, director and member of the MFA acting program with a focus in pedagogy at CSULB.
Pillai recently finished working in Havana, Cuba for nine years where she worked with dancers, actors, musicians and visual artists creating original works for the stage.
“I wanted to find a way share my experience of Cuba and I had asked a friend who is a scholar and works on Cuban-American drama what she recommended and she immediately told me about ‘Bird in the Hand’,” Pillai said.
Pillai is working with undergraduate students to incorporate Indian theatre techniques into contemporary performance. She is using these techniques in “Bird in the Hand”.
Gomes explains his interest in the play comes from various places.
“I’m originally from the Caribbean, and Cuba has always held a great interest to me since I was a boy so the play and the subject matter really interested me a lot,” Gomes said. “Collaborating with someone else, co-directing is also something that I’ve never worked with in that way before and this really interested me, as well.”
The play touches on issues that Pillai and Gomes think many students can relate to.
“There are themes in the play that will be of great interest to many students. Themes like being a second generation immigrant as well as nostalgia, class and identity,” Pillai said.
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Brenda Orellana, an actress starring in the play, explains the appeal of the play.
“It really interested me as a second generation immigrant, so I understood the main character facing isolation and not knowing exactly where you fit in. It really intrigued me,” Orellana said.
Connor Tribole, another actor in the play, said, “As actors, we’re trained in psychological realism and I knew that Shanti’s approach to theater was different, but very special, and I figured that it would push me artistically.”
Montana Bull, another actress in the play said, “While I’m not second generation, it’s so interesting that this story is being told in theater and film since there’s such a problem of not sharing stories like this very often. This is a fantastic story of immigration and what it feels like to be second generation and being torn between those two things.”
There will be a free discussion panel and reception on Saturday after the performance with experts in Latino, Cuban-American, and theatre studies using “Bird in the Hand” to discuss Cuban- American experiences in Miami and Los Angeles. It is open to all of the community.