An adaptation of “Trouble at Home” will be showing this Thursday and Friday
By: Carlos Glick
Original poster for” Trouble at Home”
On December 9th and 10th, The College of Staten Island’s Drama department will be putting on a stage production of “Trouble at Home”, which is an adaptation of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz translated and adapted by Anadina Saladino.
I had the chance to interview the playwright herself, who also directed the play. Saladino is a Dominican playwrighter who according to a SI Live’s article, “left her native land 28 years ago in the hopes where her voice can be heard, where she can be respected and her value as a person can be appreciated, rather than her appearance as a woman, a place where she could enjoy the same rights as men.”
Thus explains the whole aspect and concept of the show. Taking place in contemporary Dominican Republic, “Trouble at Home” is a laugh-out-loud slapstick farce, with improbable moments that serve as a momentary relief from the stressful times we are living in while addressing issues of misogyny, classism, racism, colorism, homophobia, xenophobia, and ageism.
Saladino is a Senior at CSI and is a playwright, director and actor. She adapted Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz’s “Los Empenos De Una Casa” which has been translated from the original play and adapted to include modern issues that are important to her and to the Latinx community.
“Trouble at Home” is a farce, so it is a lot of fun, with a lot of slapstick moments but at the same time addresses very serious issues.
The play will have its first official opening night December 9th at 7 PM and will run through December 10th at 7 PM.
Saladino says when she translated Sor Juana’s play, one of the things that was most important to her was to keep Sor Juana’s pros and so the translation has kept some of her big verse flow as well as her voice in contemporary dialogue and so, if one pays attention, one can somewhat hear Sor Juana’s voice parallel to hers.
Christopher Leon plays Don Carlos in the play “Trouble at Home” who is charismatic, handsome, but at the same time, clueless. His purpose in the play is to find the woman he loves and to reunite with her, while at the same time battling his toxic masculinity and trying to show that he’s a better man than any other man.
Leon says “I hope the audience really enjoys this character. This character has made me experience so many things. It has made me open up to new varieties, open up a character in me, and it’s quite interesting. I really love this character. This is my second time playing this character and I can’t wait till people hear about this and enjoy it!
Isselle Rodriguez who plays Dona Leonor, is making her very first debut as an actress. Rodriguez says that “playing this character has brought out a whole new confidence in me that I never knew I had and you will see a lot of dramatics from this character. This show is amazing! It brings out a lot of topics talking about sexism, race, class, a lot pretty much and I really hope you guys love it.”
Branden Klein plays Hernando in the show “Trouble at Home.” Klein says, “My part is a supporting role to the father of the show Don Rodrigo. My character is kind of the Jiminy Cricket of the show. Just kind of leading him to the right decisions as he needs to be, while slap stick and shoes here and there.”
Klein continues by saying “The audience can very much see that the show is a farce in some things and in others as a very feministic view of the modern day and it shows how women are tired of being treated very terribly and can stick up for themselves and be powerful. Very strong message that I love and love to see in the show. And yeah, I think that the show is great. From everything we’ve done from the past few months until now, working with so many talented people is amazing.” Check out the show if you have the chance to. Having seen a run through of the show myself, you guys will definitely enjoy this. Once again, the show is December 9th and 10th in the Lab Theater, 1P-110B.
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