Arturo Fernandez, Carlos Alayeto and Arnaldo Carmouze, the cast of The Indian Wants the Bronx |
1968 – the year that rocked the world – was an unforgettable year in American history. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. The Vietnam War, flower power, sit-ins, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations. Peace, love and marijuana. Hippies, bell-bottoms and the emergence of the civil rights movement.
That was also the year that an unknown actor named Al Pacino won an Obie Award for his performance as Murph in his off-Broadway debut in the one-act play The Indian Wants the Bronx by up-and-coming American playwright Israel Horovitz. Horovitz also won an Obie award for Best New Play and John Cazale (later of The Godfather) won Best Supporting Actor for his role as the East Indian man, Gupta.
IThe Indian Wants the Bronx tells the story of Gupta, a young Indian man on his first day in Manhattan. He is lost at a bus stop and trying to get to the Bronx to visit a relative when he encounters two young toughs who harass, threaten and finally beat him. The man does not speak much English to the amusement of the hoods, who use this as an excuse to torment him and betray their prejudices and fear. The play deals with issues of cultural identity, xenophobia and fear of the “other.”
This production of The Indian Wants the Bronx marks Ground Up & Rising’s debut at Miami Dade College-Kendall Campus. A newcomer to the South Florida theater scene, Ground Up & Rising was formed in 2005 with the express mission of making theater more accessible to those who might not ordinarily go to the theater and to nurture and cultivate local playwrights, screenwriters and actors.
Arturo Fernandez one of the founding members of Ground Up & Rising |
“We wanted to do something really special for our debut at Miami Dade College,” says José Terrier, marketing director for Ground Up & Rising, “so, the actors took on the challenge of alternating roles – Arturo Fernandez as Murph and Arnaldo Carmouze as Joey for one weekend and vice versa for the following weekend. We hope this will provide a fresh and fascinating twist to the production and give audiences plenty of reasons to come back for more.”
One of Ground Up & Rising’s founding members, Arturo Fernandez, 27, a native of Miami who is now the producing artistic director for the theater company says, “The Indian Wants the Bronx is still a relevant piece of theater for today’s generation. It is not dated at all. Today’s hate crimes and crimes against homeless people are a direct parallel to that era. In fact, it has more weight today than ever. Racial issues are still with us.
“We want to keep people thinking and talking about the show,” says Fernandez. “With two different actors interpreting two different roles you get two different stories. Each time you see the play, it’s different. So often in art and theater you cannot really change people’s lives but if you can get people to think, then we’ve done our job.”
This is the second production for Ground Up & Rising’s 2006-2007 theater season. The first play, September 10th, was written and conceived by Fernandez, who, in addition to being an actor and the artistic director for Ground Up & Rising, is also a playwright.
Actor Bechir Sylvain, who is directing The Indian Wants the Bronx |
He received a grant from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs to write and produce September 10th which focuses on complete strangers who fatefully cross paths on an uneventful September morning in the Big Apple.
“I am extremely thankful to the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs as they have been instrumental in developing our company and in our success,” says Fernandez. “They have provided us with fiscal and administrative support and we would not be where we are today without their assistance.”
As young, creative, local talent, Ground Up & Rising consider themselves an active part of the South Florida arts scene. Part of their mission in the community, as they see it, is to give back to the community and inspire others to do what they do. In this vein, they have created the Workshop 2 Product Program. This is a 6-week workshop for local playwrights to put their work into creation, culminating in a fully-equipped stage production. The first phase of the workshop is to develop and evaluate a new play and then progress into rehearsals and production. The second phase, or the Product Phase, is where the final product is performed in front of a live, local audience.
The cast and crew of September 10, Ground Up & Rising’s first production last fall |
One unique aspect of Ground Up & Rising’s members is that they themselves represent a varied cross-cultural section of the South Florida community and are interested in presenting works that touch upon racial, social, cultural, language, status and class issues. They speak to the coveted 18-35 demographic, but their audience is everyone. The troupe gives ethnic and minority actors a chance to play roles they might not ordinarily play. All the actors in this production of The Indian Wants the Bronx are first generation Hispanic-Americans and natives of Miami.
The company’s next planned production is Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, by David Rabe, a Vietnam-era epic of one man’s journey as a soldier, presented as a lucid dream of wars abroad and wars at home. Ground Up & Rising’s 2006-2007 season promises to be innovative and exciting. The ensemble selects their plays for their relevance to their audience and for their universal themes of coexistence, communication and enlightenment borne out of tragedy. And, if you’re lucky, you just might witness the makings of the next Al Pacino.
The Indian Wants the Bronx runs from June 22 to July 15 at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sundays at the Miami Dade College, Kendall campus, M Building, 11011 SW 104th ST., Miami. Tickets are $20, $15 for students. Call 305-726-4359 for information.
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