Brockport production of Water by the Spoonful is collaboration with Rochester Latino Theatre Company
Elliot, a veteran of the war in Iraq, has returned home to Philadelphia wanting to connect: to friends, to family, to a job… to something. His Latinx community seems like a soft place to land, but issues with PTSD and an unplanned reunion with his estranged mother thwart his plans. Will a trip to Puerto Rico clear his head and set him on a new path? The ways in which he achieves new beginnings are explored in Quiara Alegría Hudes’ (In the Heights) Pulitzer Prize-winning Water by the Spoonful, which is being produced (in English) as a collaboration between the SUNY Brockport Department of Theatre and Music Studies and the Rochester Latino Theatre Company (RLTC). The play, a heartfelt and poetic meditation on lives on the brink of redemption, opens on Friday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the Tower Fine Arts Center Mainstage Theatre, 180 Holley Street, Brockport.
In the play, Elliot needs to follow his own path, but the paths for some of those involved in the production led to a place once considered “home.” Alumna Stephanie Paredes ’04, who is directing the production, is a co-founder of the RLTC. Taking on the role of Elliot is Will Ruiz ’08 who, after spending several years as a Spanish teacher in the Irondequoit school district, is now a certification officer in the College’s Professional Education unit. Having last appeared in a Mainstage production in 2006, he is “excited” to tread the boards at Brockport again after appearances with Pittsford Musicals, Webster Theatre Guild, and Blackfriar’s Theatre.
Paredes is “passionate” about the play, in which she appeared as “Haikumom” during two readings with the RLTC. Bringing that passion to Brockport, and to a theatre department which she admits “gave me life” when she was a student, has her also feeling “excited” as well as “nervous, and humbled.” Her desire is to do the show justice, and to “exhibit the rich diversity that can exist in theatre with a multicultural cast.” This opportunity to return to the department gives her a sense of responsibility. It was mentoring from faculty members Maria Scipione and Ruth Childs, along with directors Louis Moreno and future Tony Award® nominee Colman Domingo – who guided her through the Brockport productions of Maggie Magalita and Once on this Island during her senior year – that helped her uncover the rich diversity that exists in theatre and inspired her to “ensure that diversity and inclusion is embedded into the fabric of theatre arts.”
About the play itself, Paredes’ passion “stems from being a human, a woman, and a mom.” With addiction weaving its way through various characters’ lives, the themes of judgment and compassion intertwine for the director, and begged the question “is it ever too late to seek redemption and ask for forgiveness?
Performances of Water by the Spoonful will take place on October 8, 9, 21, 22, and 23, at 7:30 p.m. There is also a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 10, which will be ASL interpreted. Tickets are $17/general, $12/seniors, alumni, faculty and staff, and $9/students. They may be purchased online at fineartstix.brockport.edu, by phone at 395-2787, or at the Tower Fine Arts Center Box Office, 180 Holley Street, Brockport. SUNY Brockport’s up-to-date COVID-19 prevention guidelines can be found on the ticketing website, the Fine Arts Series Facebook page, and at brockport.edu/coronavirus. Compliance with campus protocols is required in order to attend any performances or events.
More information about the Fine Arts Series at The College at Brockport can be found at www.brockport.edu/academics/fine_arts or on Facebook.
Provided information
