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| Charise Castro Smith |
On April 13th, on a relatively balmy afternoon at ACT
Theatre, eSe Teatro artistic director Rose Cano managed a new effort to
introduce Latino actors to the Seattle theaters for consideration in
near-future productions.
For the first ever NW Regional Latino Auditions, approximately
45 mostly local actors, but also from as far away as Chicago and Los Angeles,
strutted their stuff before a powerhouse list of regional companies: Seattle
Repertory, Book-It Repertory, ACT Theatre (host company), Oregon Shakespeare
Festival, Miracle (Milagro) Theatre Group, Latino Theatre Projects, Washington
Ensemble Theatre and a few more. Washington Ensemble is mounting Charise Castro
Smith’s play, The Hunchback of Seville,
opening June 5th.
Each actor was given the standard three minutes to perform
and many presented two short pieces. The mix of pieces ranged from very
contemporary to classic Shakespearian and Spanish plays. Many of the performers
chose to perform pieces that mixed Spanish and English to show their ability to
perform in both languages. A number of performers were young men and women who
are studying at Cornish or UW.