PLAY SYNOPSIS

 

Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz, is a play about the healing of a Latinx family and the intergenerational, complexities of silence and violence.

 

“The first hit tears your skin and makes you bleed. It feels like the world has turned to spinning stars. But after that, you don’t feel much more.”

 

 

Genesis, an academic working her way through an Ivy League education, is proud of having survived her family’s dysfunction, if only just barely. But when her estranged mother, Paloma, is released from prison after a decade of incarceration, Genesis is forced to confront her past and the familial silences surrounding her mother’s departure.

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PLAY HISTORY 

 

PSTC in partnership with Philadelphia’s Women in Transition (WIT) presented Morir Sonyando by Erlina Ortiz for the 2014 FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia. The play was remounted in partnership with Women Against Abuse (WAA) at Temple University for Lambda Theta Alpha Sorority Inc.'s Founders Week. Each performance of Morir Sonyando was followed by interactive talkbacks facilitated by WIT and WAA’s expert team of professional anti-violence advocates, who also provided domestic violence resources and literature in the space.

 

“In our play Morir Sonyando, we will follow, in a non-linear structure, the past, present and future of three family members (mother, daughter and son) that had their lives changed because of an act of despair that would destroy everything” – Thais Flaitt Giannoccaro, director.

 

More than mere entertainment, this production aims to heighten consciousness around the issue of domestic violence, by exposing and engaging local audience members on this urgent topic. Each performance of Morir Sonyando is followed by insightful talkbacks with the cast and audience. For many audience members who can identify with the experiences of the characters in the play, these talk backs create a space for breaking silence.​