January 17, 2025 • 12 mins
We spoke with Actress Adriana Mercado about the Pa’lante Theater Company’s new show.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Adriana Medina. She's an actor from the
Polante Theater Company in Waterbury. Good morning, good morning. So
tell me about the Polante Theater Company. This is new
it is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's a Palante Theater Company. It's a black box theater
in the heart of Waterbury, Connecticut. They've been around for
a little over two years. Their focus is on Hispanic
Latino Afro Caribbean stories within the performing arts. I came
to be involved due to a referral from another actress
whom I have the absolute pleasure of acting with in
(00:38):
another production. And she had already been a part of
Palante before, so she referred me to audition for them,
and then the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Here we are wow, so wonderful. So it's located at
one fifty eight Grand Street. And what's coming up now
between January twenty second and the twenty sixth is called
World Classic. That's the name of the play that you're
going to be in.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes, correct, World Classic by Nelson Diaz Marcano.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So tell me about this play.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So the play is about a family who came to
New York from Puerto Rico, to pursue the American dream.
It has a little bit of everything from comedy, family, drama,
and definitely some heavy topics, and we definitely want to
make sure that there's a disclaimer for people to know that,
you know, there's there's the story touches on things about
(01:27):
that have to do with suicide, grief, cultural and sexual
identity and things of that nature, and just saying that
may seem kind of taboo to talk about with your family,
or just like those elephants in the room sort of
speak that you know that your family may know about it,
but they just don't want to acknowledge it. So there's
gonna be a lot of that in the show.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
It sounds u sy, Yes it is. It's gonna be good.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's an amazing story.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
So as I understand, there aren't many Latino dramas like
this that people can go see. Correct, And why is that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I honestly, you know me what I can say from
my own perspective as a Latina actress. You know, I
actually my background acting comes from film, but theater has
always been something I've always loved but shied away from
because I just never found myself in that type of space.
Because due to a lack of representation. And I think
that definitely has to play with it, because this theater
(02:21):
is such a very grand, you know platform sort of
speak for performing arts. But it's crazy because I feel
like theater is theater should be one of the biggest
things that we should gravitate towards to as a culture,
as a Hispanic you know, Latin Latin Hispanic people. Our
culture was built on stories and experiences that have been
passed down from generations, and you know, they deserve to
(02:43):
be seen in her because we have so much to say,
you know. So I feel like the stories are out there.
It's just a matter of you know, having that that
platform and that that inclusivity that I feel like a
lot that a lot of theaters should be doing, which
I'm not saying they're not, but I feel like there
needs to be more of that. And Balanze is just
one of those that wants people, that wants people who
(03:04):
come from different backgrounds to share their stories.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I'm Italian and to me, I don't differentiate Spanish, Italian, Jewish.
They don't want their business out there, and yeah, part
of me feels like they don't want us to tell
these stories. Because it embarrasses them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I honestly, I completely I get that because I feel
the same way about a lot of things within like
within my own culture. But I feel like, you know,
we're human and despite of what background we come from,
we all can relate to we can all relate to
the things that are going to be said in this play.
The experiences of this family and world class they have.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I know that being on the radio. It's like thirty
years now. I can't tell you how many times as
a grown woman, my mother and my father would call
me and say, I can't believe you said that, you know,
and don't talk about me and don't talk about our
you know. So I could see why. But the new generation,
especially you women, this generation, you're changing things.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Wow, that's think. Thank you for saying that. That's a huge,
huge compliment to hear.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I believe that. When I was your age, let's say,
it was make your husband a plate. Well, I want
to make my husband a plate, but I don't want
to be expected to make my husband a plate. And
the women today I have to laugh because they're like,
I don't clean, and the guy's like okay, and I
don't cook, and the guy's like okay, and I'm like, wow,
(04:31):
you go because back in the day it was like Nope,
this is your role and this is how it's going
to be done. But as I said, this generation is
changing things.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
And I completely agree with you. I just I feel
like with going back to what you were saying about
how you know your parents are like, oh, why did
you say that? You shouldn't have said that, But it's like,
you know, then that goes to show it needs to
be said, it should be said. You know, why do
we need to hide things? Why why are there things
that you know, there's there's layers, there's trauma there could
be that need to be brought to light because they've
(05:02):
been in the darkness for so long. And I feel
that again this story highlights that because of what this
family has endured, they suffer this in this insurmountable tragedy
while they're trying to pursue this dream coming from Puerto
Rico and trying to make a life here, and you know,
they're all dealing with this tragedy in a different way,
but also dealing within the inner conflicts culturally as well,
(05:24):
which I think it highlights that tremendously. In this show.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Gosh, it sounds so good. Tell me about your character.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Oh my gosh, yes, my character. Her name is Miriam
Mercado Megato, and she is the They have three children.
She is the second oldest and she's also the eldest
daughter because she has two brothers. She has a lot
to say. She is the family member who has a
lot to say and is not afraid of saying it
(05:52):
to people. She has no filters, and I feel like
it definitely relates to a lot of latinas and like,
I think, like going back to women in this generation
as well, because we're just we're tired of just kind
of pushing down our own needs and our own wishes
and dreams for other people. She is the eldest sibling.
(06:14):
So just to give a little background without getting too
much away, so she had her and her out of
the three children, the eldest son dies tragically and I
don't want to get too much into the details about that.
And because of that loss, you know, the whole family
is mourning and grieving in their own way. However, with her,
you know, she you know, her her father's grieving, her
(06:36):
mother's grieving. Now it's just her and her younger brother.
So she has to step in as like the third
parental unit, and she kind of has to be the
ones to kind of take on all this responsibility, which
a lot of elder siblings do sadly when something happens
and they feel like that it's their responsibility to kind
of take up the mantle and step in, even though
they don't. They're not, they don't need to, you know.
(06:57):
So she steps in as the third parental youth to
her younger brother Luisito in the play, and she's battling
with a lot of internal impersonal conflicts as well within
herself while still healing her own wounds because of this tragedy.
And you're going to see that very very clearly in
Miriam's character throughout the show. And she holds a lot
of anger and resentment towards her father for many reasons.
(07:21):
And she is just an incredible character to play, and
I'm just so honored that I get to bring her
to life in this story.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And so give me a little bit about your background.
Did you go to school? What other plays have you done?
As you said, you've done film.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yes, so I am primarily a film actress. I've done many,
many short films features a lot of indie stuff here
in Connecticut and throughout New England, and World Classic is
actually my only, my second theater production, and here I
am sick and it's something I honestly I wish I
could do full time. No like that.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Are you a local girl?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I am. I was born and raised in Stratford, Connecticut,
and I currently live in Hamden with my husband and
I live live my job. I work in Stamford full time.
So I've literally I've been in Connecticut my whole entire life.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Now I guess there's a baseball tie to the show.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So baseball all the sport is an extremely popular sport
in Puerto Rico, both on the island and here in
the States, and so specifically in World Classic, the patriarch
of the family, Bappo Medgago, he wanted to pursue his
American dream by coming to the States and becoming a
professional baseball player, which is why he and his family
(08:32):
moved from the island. However, things unfortunately don't go as planned.
The family suffers this tragic loss of their eldest son
by suicide, and then ten years after the sun passed away,
the family is still dealing with the aftermath, and the
whole story takes place on the day of it's called
the Baseball World Classic Championship between Team Puerto Rico and
(08:54):
Team USA. It's a very very big baseball game and
it's between the two different so Puerto Rico and Tmusa,
which plays a lot into again the cultural identity that
we see those faces in the play. So baseball is
literally the center of this the story.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Wow, it sounds so good. There are so many people
I need to tell about this. They have to go
see it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It's a beautiful story.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And just tell me about Polante because I've never been.
How does it feel being on stage there?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Oh my gosh, you know, even though it's my first
time here, being the rehearsals we've had. The space that
we're in black box is a very non tradition. I
didn't know what a black box theater was, but it's
a very it's a very known type of like theater
style a black box theater. Balante black box is it's
a very cozy, intimate space and we see it about
(09:47):
sixty people. And what I think is beautiful about this
style theater, the black box, It brings the audience members
so close to the production and the actors and you're
just completely immersed in the story in this way, and
the atmosphere is there's really no way to describe it.
It's unlike any other. And theater has always been such
(10:08):
a surreal, you know, really intimate experience, but in this
style and based on the rehearsal audiences that we've had,
like it's just you can see that they are invested
in what they're watching and it's truly a rare gem
because there's nothing like that in this area's in my knowledge,
and to bring this production to life in this style
of theater is just it's an honor and experience that
(10:30):
we really hope the audience is going to remember for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And what do you hope that the audience goes home
with from this?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I truly hope and honestly, even though the Family is
a port it's centered on a Puerto Rican family, I
feel that universal experience that can resonate with families from
all walks of life, you know, And based on some
of the feedback we've already had from like students, like
people from different age groups and age ranges and backgrounds,
a lot of people have said, you know, I see
myself in Miriam, I see myself in Gloria the Mother
(11:01):
like and we really we've had comments where people like,
this is my family that I'm watching. I feel like
I'm watching one of my family parties together, which is
such a huge, huge compliment to us because that's one
of the biggest things we want to come across, like
this could be your family, you know, whether you're Italian,
whether you're Portuguese, whether it is whatever you're wherever you
come from. This is a family that you can relate
(11:21):
to on so many levels.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I'm speaking with Adriana Medina. She's an actor at the
Polante Theater Company. It's located one fifty eight Grand Street
in Waterbury, right downtown there. The play is called World Classic.
It is going on from January twenty second through the
twenty sixth. Go to Polantetheater dot org to get those tickets.
I want to spell it for you, Pa l A
(11:44):
n Te Polantetheater dot org. Adriana, God, bless you, thank
you so much for being here. I cannot wait to
see the show.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Thank you so much, Alix, and I can't wait for
you to come see And I please spread the word.
We want, we want so many people to just be
exposed to this and dible story
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Adriana Medina. She's an actor from the
Polante Theater Company in Waterbury. Good morning, good morning. So
tell me about the Polante Theater Company. This is new
it is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's a Palante Theater Company. It's a black box theater
in the heart of Waterbury, Connecticut. They've been around for
a little over two years. Their focus is on Hispanic
Latino Afro Caribbean stories within the performing arts. I came
to be involved due to a referral from another actress
whom I have the absolute pleasure of acting with in
(00:38):
another production. And she had already been a part of
Palante before, so she referred me to audition for them,
and then the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Here we are wow, so wonderful. So it's located at
one fifty eight Grand Street. And what's coming up now
between January twenty second and the twenty sixth is called
World Classic. That's the name of the play that you're
going to be in.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes, correct, World Classic by Nelson Diaz Marcano.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So tell me about this play.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So the play is about a family who came to
New York from Puerto Rico, to pursue the American dream.
It has a little bit of everything from comedy, family, drama,
and definitely some heavy topics, and we definitely want to
make sure that there's a disclaimer for people to know that,
you know, there's there's the story touches on things about
(01:27):
that have to do with suicide, grief, cultural and sexual
identity and things of that nature, and just saying that
may seem kind of taboo to talk about with your family,
or just like those elephants in the room sort of
speak that you know that your family may know about it,
but they just don't want to acknowledge it. So there's
gonna be a lot of that in the show.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
It sounds u sy, Yes it is. It's gonna be good.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's an amazing story.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
So as I understand, there aren't many Latino dramas like
this that people can go see. Correct, And why is that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I honestly, you know me what I can say from
my own perspective as a Latina actress. You know, I
actually my background acting comes from film, but theater has
always been something I've always loved but shied away from
because I just never found myself in that type of space.
Because due to a lack of representation. And I think
that definitely has to play with it, because this theater
(02:21):
is such a very grand, you know platform sort of
speak for performing arts. But it's crazy because I feel
like theater is theater should be one of the biggest
things that we should gravitate towards to as a culture,
as a Hispanic you know, Latin Latin Hispanic people. Our
culture was built on stories and experiences that have been
passed down from generations, and you know, they deserve to
(02:43):
be seen in her because we have so much to say,
you know. So I feel like the stories are out there.
It's just a matter of you know, having that that
platform and that that inclusivity that I feel like a
lot that a lot of theaters should be doing, which
I'm not saying they're not, but I feel like there
needs to be more of that. And Balanze is just
one of those that wants people, that wants people who
(03:04):
come from different backgrounds to share their stories.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I'm Italian and to me, I don't differentiate Spanish, Italian, Jewish.
They don't want their business out there, and yeah, part
of me feels like they don't want us to tell
these stories. Because it embarrasses them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I honestly, I completely I get that because I feel
the same way about a lot of things within like
within my own culture. But I feel like, you know,
we're human and despite of what background we come from,
we all can relate to we can all relate to
the things that are going to be said in this play.
The experiences of this family and world class they have.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I know that being on the radio. It's like thirty
years now. I can't tell you how many times as
a grown woman, my mother and my father would call
me and say, I can't believe you said that, you know,
and don't talk about me and don't talk about our
you know. So I could see why. But the new generation,
especially you women, this generation, you're changing things.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Wow, that's think. Thank you for saying that. That's a huge,
huge compliment to hear.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I believe that. When I was your age, let's say,
it was make your husband a plate. Well, I want
to make my husband a plate, but I don't want
to be expected to make my husband a plate. And
the women today I have to laugh because they're like,
I don't clean, and the guy's like okay, and I
don't cook, and the guy's like okay, and I'm like, wow,
(04:31):
you go because back in the day it was like Nope,
this is your role and this is how it's going
to be done. But as I said, this generation is
changing things.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
And I completely agree with you. I just I feel
like with going back to what you were saying about
how you know your parents are like, oh, why did
you say that? You shouldn't have said that, But it's like,
you know, then that goes to show it needs to
be said, it should be said. You know, why do
we need to hide things? Why why are there things
that you know, there's there's layers, there's trauma there could
be that need to be brought to light because they've
(05:02):
been in the darkness for so long. And I feel
that again this story highlights that because of what this
family has endured, they suffer this in this insurmountable tragedy
while they're trying to pursue this dream coming from Puerto
Rico and trying to make a life here, and you know,
they're all dealing with this tragedy in a different way,
but also dealing within the inner conflicts culturally as well,
(05:24):
which I think it highlights that tremendously. In this show.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Gosh, it sounds so good. Tell me about your character.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Oh my gosh, yes, my character. Her name is Miriam
Mercado Megato, and she is the They have three children.
She is the second oldest and she's also the eldest
daughter because she has two brothers. She has a lot
to say. She is the family member who has a
lot to say and is not afraid of saying it
(05:52):
to people. She has no filters, and I feel like
it definitely relates to a lot of latinas and like,
I think, like going back to women in this generation
as well, because we're just we're tired of just kind
of pushing down our own needs and our own wishes
and dreams for other people. She is the eldest sibling.
(06:14):
So just to give a little background without getting too
much away, so she had her and her out of
the three children, the eldest son dies tragically and I
don't want to get too much into the details about that.
And because of that loss, you know, the whole family
is mourning and grieving in their own way. However, with her,
you know, she you know, her her father's grieving, her
(06:36):
mother's grieving. Now it's just her and her younger brother.
So she has to step in as like the third
parental unit, and she kind of has to be the
ones to kind of take on all this responsibility, which
a lot of elder siblings do sadly when something happens
and they feel like that it's their responsibility to kind
of take up the mantle and step in, even though
they don't. They're not, they don't need to, you know.
(06:57):
So she steps in as the third parental youth to
her younger brother Luisito in the play, and she's battling
with a lot of internal impersonal conflicts as well within
herself while still healing her own wounds because of this tragedy.
And you're going to see that very very clearly in
Miriam's character throughout the show. And she holds a lot
of anger and resentment towards her father for many reasons.
(07:21):
And she is just an incredible character to play, and
I'm just so honored that I get to bring her
to life in this story.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And so give me a little bit about your background.
Did you go to school? What other plays have you done?
As you said, you've done film.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yes, so I am primarily a film actress. I've done many,
many short films features a lot of indie stuff here
in Connecticut and throughout New England, and World Classic is
actually my only, my second theater production, and here I
am sick and it's something I honestly I wish I
could do full time. No like that.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Are you a local girl?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I am. I was born and raised in Stratford, Connecticut,
and I currently live in Hamden with my husband and
I live live my job. I work in Stamford full time.
So I've literally I've been in Connecticut my whole entire life.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Now I guess there's a baseball tie to the show.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So baseball all the sport is an extremely popular sport
in Puerto Rico, both on the island and here in
the States, and so specifically in World Classic, the patriarch
of the family, Bappo Medgago, he wanted to pursue his
American dream by coming to the States and becoming a
professional baseball player, which is why he and his family
(08:32):
moved from the island. However, things unfortunately don't go as planned.
The family suffers this tragic loss of their eldest son
by suicide, and then ten years after the sun passed away,
the family is still dealing with the aftermath, and the
whole story takes place on the day of it's called
the Baseball World Classic Championship between Team Puerto Rico and
(08:54):
Team USA. It's a very very big baseball game and
it's between the two different so Puerto Rico and Tmusa,
which plays a lot into again the cultural identity that
we see those faces in the play. So baseball is
literally the center of this the story.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Wow, it sounds so good. There are so many people
I need to tell about this. They have to go
see it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It's a beautiful story.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And just tell me about Polante because I've never been.
How does it feel being on stage there?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Oh my gosh, you know, even though it's my first
time here, being the rehearsals we've had. The space that
we're in black box is a very non tradition. I
didn't know what a black box theater was, but it's
a very it's a very known type of like theater
style a black box theater. Balante black box is it's
a very cozy, intimate space and we see it about
(09:47):
sixty people. And what I think is beautiful about this
style theater, the black box, It brings the audience members
so close to the production and the actors and you're
just completely immersed in the story in this way, and
the atmosphere is there's really no way to describe it.
It's unlike any other. And theater has always been such
(10:08):
a surreal, you know, really intimate experience, but in this
style and based on the rehearsal audiences that we've had,
like it's just you can see that they are invested
in what they're watching and it's truly a rare gem
because there's nothing like that in this area's in my knowledge,
and to bring this production to life in this style
of theater is just it's an honor and experience that
(10:30):
we really hope the audience is going to remember for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And what do you hope that the audience goes home
with from this?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I truly hope and honestly, even though the Family is
a port it's centered on a Puerto Rican family, I
feel that universal experience that can resonate with families from
all walks of life, you know, And based on some
of the feedback we've already had from like students, like
people from different age groups and age ranges and backgrounds,
a lot of people have said, you know, I see
myself in Miriam, I see myself in Gloria the Mother
(11:01):
like and we really we've had comments where people like,
this is my family that I'm watching. I feel like
I'm watching one of my family parties together, which is
such a huge, huge compliment to us because that's one
of the biggest things we want to come across, like
this could be your family, you know, whether you're Italian,
whether you're Portuguese, whether it is whatever you're wherever you
come from. This is a family that you can relate
(11:21):
to on so many levels.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I'm speaking with Adriana Medina. She's an actor at the
Polante Theater Company. It's located one fifty eight Grand Street
in Waterbury, right downtown there. The play is called World Classic.
It is going on from January twenty second through the
twenty sixth. Go to Polantetheater dot org to get those tickets.
I want to spell it for you, Pa l A
(11:44):
n Te Polantetheater dot org. Adriana, God, bless you, thank
you so much for being here. I cannot wait to
see the show.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Thank you so much, Alix, and I can't wait for
you to come see And I please spread the word.
We want, we want so many people to just be
exposed to this and dible story
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