Director Obed Medina on Grandeza

(A Featured Play in Debut de Piezas Teatrales: Festival de Lectura)

A Festival of New Play Readings

Grandeza is a rapid-paced comedy. These 2 families [featured in the play] have a lot to say and they don’t hold back from saying it! It can get savage, as familial love sometimes gets. But deep down, there is love.

My favorite moment in the play comes in 2 places: Act 1 is hilariously funny and honest, and I love how these characters are not afraid to speak their mind – even to their own loved ones. And my second favorite moment in the play is towards the end, with the metaphor of the giant tree.

I think audiences should come to see the play to support new works from local writers. The play speaks to everyone, and I’m sure we will relate to more than one character in the play.

It is exciting to be working on an all-Spanish play because I’ve never had the opportunity to do that: to hear a play spoken in your native language.

I was attracted to this play, especially as a reading, because it’s such a kinetic play and I love a challenge, to create movement even as the actors stand with scripts in hand. My hope is that audiences will be absorbed by the story; that it will seem as if they were watching a fully staged production.

A staged reading is a rehearsed reading of a play with script in hand. The actors have only really read through a play a couple of times to familiarize themselves with the words and the character. There aren’t any costumes or sets… it’s really a time to really hear the words without any distractions.

Workshops are very important for a new play in development because it’s the first time that the writer and everyone else working on the project can look at the play through fresh eyes. The feedback is especially important for developing the play further.

It is so important for Latine audiences to support Latine artists. The stories we are writing are a direct reflection of our lived experiences and it is a great way to see ourselves on stage… something we don’t’ always get to see regularly. But we want to change that.

I want audiences to leave with the understanding that one’s own sexuality is just one small aspect of what makes us human. We are not defined by it, though we are forced to hide it.

Grandeza means grandeur… especially in our appearance and the way we carry ourselves. We all strive to be seen and respected. Ultimately, that is the message of Grandeza.

By Hanoch Levin
Translated by Leland Frankel and Lee Ishri
Directed by Raymond Bobgan
Starring Peter Lawson Jones as The Old Man

Seeking a female identifying performer who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color for the role of The Old Woman: Wife of The Old Man, resilient, tolerant, stubborn, sick, resolved to her fate.  

*All other roles in this production have been cast and we are only looking to fill this role at this time. 

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Cleveland Public Theatre is hiring a Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator for the Cleveland Act Now Academy (CAN Academy) program to continue to serve Cleveland Public Theatre’s mission to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through life-changing education programs.

Review of candidates will begin immediately. To apply for the position, send an email to Nicole Sumlin, Director of Education, at nsumlin@cptonline.org by end of day December 15, 2023. Subject line should read: YOUR LAST NAME, Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator, CAN Academy. Your email should include two attachments: a resume and a cover letter giving examples of work that illustrate the experience required in the description and explaining why you are interested in this position. No phone calls, please.

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Request for Proposals – Deadline: December 1st 

CPT seeks local dance companies for DanceWorks 2024! For consideration, please fill out this form by December 1, 2023 at 5pm. 

DanceWorks offers an opportunity for emerging and established Northeast Ohio dance companies and choreographers to present world premiere works in a series with other local dance companies as an important part of Cleveland Public Theatre’s 2023-2024 Season.  

DanceWorks aims to create a bold experimental playground for companies and choreographers. We seek to represent a diverse array of forms, genres, and aesthetic values. Performances should be comprised of at least 50% world premiere work. Pieces will be selected with special consideration to impact and quality. 

Through a submission process, CPT is looking to select 3-6 local dance companies for a slot between April 15 and May 12. Each group selected will perform for one weekend. Applicants may apply to be on a double bill and split the evening of entertainment with another company. 

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By Hanoch Levin
Translated by Leland Frankel and Lee Ishri
Directed by Raymond Bobgan
Starring Peter Lawson Jones as The Old Man

Seeking Jewish, Latiné, and MENA (Middle Eastern North African) performers for the following roles. 

• The Old Woman: Wife of The Old Man, resilient, tolerant, stubborn, sick, resolved to her fate.  

• The Prostitute with a Freckle & The Zuchini Shaped Drunk—Female identifying actor to play two roles in campy scenes as a female sex worker and a male drunk.  
• The Medic: Think “urgent care nurse” in a village. 
• Non-speaking ensemble roles that fill the play with movement and scenery.  

Much of the show has been pre-cast and we are only looking to fill these roles at this time. 

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Featuring staged readings of

Pilar and Paloma by Milta Ortiz
Directed by Tania Benites

Grandeza by Ernesto Luna Camargo
Directed by Obed Medina

This event is a bilingual reading series that features two new works from the Latine community: Grandeza by Ernesto Luna Camargo, a founding member of Teatro Público de Cleveland and Pilar and Paloma by Milta Ortiz of Borderlands Theatre.

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By Tania Benites 

Directed by Kari Barclay 

Looking to cast the following roles…  

• Narrator: (any race, female, any age); Narrator for the book “Hypnosis for Self-Confidence”.  
• Maria: (Latinx, female, 20s-30s); A customer service representative who struggles with her sense of self. A quiet person in a loud world who feels pressure as only a daughter-of-immigrants could. Devours self-help books as a hobby. 
• Trisha: (any race, female, any age); Maria’s co-worker and top seller at Kapow. The office “mean girl”. She is aggressive and knows how to make friends with the right people.  
• Craig: (non-Latinx, male, 30s+); Customer service supervisor at Kapow whose main concern is driving sales numbers and meeting quotas. 

• Figure: (Latinx, female, 20s-30s); Maria’s manifestation. She is the change that Maria thinks she needs. She is hungry for what she does not have and feels that she could do things better if given the opportunity. 
• Steve: (any race, male, 20s-30s); IT technician at Kapow. Grounded and kind, perhaps a little nerdy. A good friend. 
• Mom: (Latinx, female, 40s+); Maria’s mom. An immigrant. No stranger to sacrifice and hard work. While she expects a lot from her daughter, she loves just as fiercely. 

We are open to seeing both AEA and non-AEA actors for these auditions. 

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Artists need space—performing artists need more space. We have space. We want more art! Let’s talk about FREE SPACE.

CPT is beta testing a new program for dance, theatre and other performance art makers: The Open Door.

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