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“The Mourners” is a few multi-generational household on the eve of Hurricane Maria in 2017. This household is coping with the lack of their daughter, mom, and ex-partner. For Rivera, this piece comes from an actual and private place having misplaced her sister and experiencing the ache of seeing household cope with the aftermath of Maria each in and outdoors of the island.
I’ll take a second right here to interject. I’m Puerto Rican and have actual visceral emotions about Maria. Rivera and I are a part of the identical collective of writers at Conch Shell Productions (CSP) in New York Metropolis run by Magaly Colimon-Christopher. CSP is a corporation targeted on elevating tales of the Caribbean Diaspora. I used to be lucky sufficient to learn an earlier draft of this script and knew that it was really particular. So, the serendipitous arrival of “The Mourners” on CMU’s campus feels too good to not speak about as an MFA CMU SOD dramatic writing scholar, however I’ll get into extra of that later.
Let’s again up: let me introduce you to Rivka Rivera and her journey from BFA appearing scholar at CMU (class of 2010) to prolific artist. Throughout her time at CMU, Rivera carried out in such reveals as “The Mill on the Floss” directed by Dana Friedman, “Richard the Third” directed by Matt Grey, “One Flea Spare” directed by Amy Clausen, and “A Boy Named Alice” written by Josh Harmon (CMU playwright alum), directed by Sarah Krone. Rivera is a self-identified “Jew-Yo-Rican”: half-Jewish, half-Puerto Rican, and born and raised in New York. Often called Rebecca throughout her time at CMU, it was after leaving the college that she started to dig into her Jewish and Puerto Rican heritage.
“The business actually desires to place you in a field – what are you?” Rivera stated. “I began saying ‘sure’ to Latin roles and felt a deep shift to additional discover and broaden my id…The title Rivka got here to me, and I modified my title with out asking anybody’s permission.” Rivka is Hebrew for Rebecca. So being Rivka Rivera, “I used to be Jewish and Puerto Rican and will marry these two elements of myself.” Rivera is not going to be put in a field! She says that CMU gave her the instruments to discover her id and helped her not solely broaden her profession in appearing for the stage, television, and movie, but in addition in writing, facilitating workshops, and even internet hosting a podcast.
Rivera felt that bringing “The Mourners” to CMU was extremely serendipitous. I informed you we’d speak about it. As a excessive schooler, Rivera attended a theater camp one summer time on the Oregon Shakespeare Pageant. Who was working and instructing there on the time? Kyle Haden and Juan Rivera, each instrumental within the ColLABo expertise of “The Mourners.” Haden was extremely excited to have the primary ColLABo Mission invite a CMU alum. Rivera says that returning to CMU was extremely therapeutic, a full circle second the place she was in a position to work on this present centered round grief and deconstruct the notion of what it means to develop a play to its full potential.
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