Meet Padre Juan - Rupert Reyes!
Rupert Reyes plays Padre Juan in the NNPN rolling world premiere of Stephanie Alison Walker's THE MADRES for Shrewd Productions.
A message from Rupert
This is Rupert Reyes and I am so proud and happy to be part of what has been a great month of August for Latinx and/or Latinx themed plays with this production of THE MADRES by Stephanie Alison Walker. Theater has so many facets and all provide for audiences. Personally, theater that educates and entertains is the one, which appeals to me both as an audience member and theater artists. I congratulate Shannon Grounds for her selecting and producing of this piece. Theater with a “message” always struggles with the balance of being too didactic or too soft on the topic. THE MADRES finds a mesmerizing balance between tale and history; education and entertainment. The story of loss is universal. The struggles for basic human rights are universal. History, which is not learned, repeats itself. No country is free from the delicate fabric of might over rights. This play brings to light the need to always be vigilant of our elected officials and how they use their office for common goals or to serve a select few. The story, unfolds is a manner that makes it ring close to the heart and even though it is set in 1978, it could be happening now. I love it when a play lets me leave the theater with more than just the program. Thank you to Lily Wolff for including me in this production.
About Rupert Reyes
Rupert Reyes is a playwright/actor/yoga instructor/husband/father/grandfather. Not in this order. His plays have been produced through out the US. He has worked on films, including Office Space, Miss Congeniality, and The Alamo. His personal pride has been the establishment of TEATRO VIVO, along with his wife of 44 years, JoAnn. He was also one of the Co-founders of the comedy group, The Latino Comedy Project. TEATRO has produced original bilingual works in Austin since 2000. His theater for youth play, a collaboration with Caroline Reck, won the Critics Table Award for Best New Play in 2014. Rupert offer much gratitude to everyone involved in this production and wife, for her support and hopes his relatives from Manor (and other places) make it out to this show!
(Photo by Errich Peterson, Costume by Laura Gonzalez.)
