UTRGV students honor Cervantes

Four hundred years after his death, Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes continues to inspire people through his literary work. This weekend, the Multilingual Drama Club at UTRGV will present “A Cervantes Celebration.”

Cervantes, who died on April 22, 1616, in Madrid, is most commonly known for his novel “Don Quixote,” which was written in 1605. Part two was published a year before his death.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of his death, two plays will be performed in Brownsville.

“[This] weekend we’ll be having plays that really celebrate the acquisition of languages,” said Suzanne LaLonde, associate chair of Literature & Cultural Studies. “So, it’s a celebration of bilingualism; it’s a celebration of trilingualism. It’s just a celebration of being bicultural, biliterate, bilingual, but also, you know, being multicultural.”

LaLonde said she wrote the play “Don Quixote Lost and Found in Translation,” in English, Spanish and French. Students in the undergraduate courses Advanced French Grammar and Composition I and II will perform the play, which is about his global adventures.

“It is about Don Quixote, mainly,” said English and French senior Berenice Sainz. “It’s like an abstract of the two parts that’s like the story in general and it basically keeps the essence of the story, but has a different take in it because it is called lost in translation, so it goes into like Spanish, English and makes the confusion there. … It’s more comedy but keeps the drama in.”

Sainz will fill the role of Antonia, Don Quixote’s niece.

Associate Professor Karen Benavente’s graduate course students in Poetry and Drama will perform “El Retablo de las Maravillas,” a one-act play or an entremés.

“Enremés is really what we would call today an interlude or kind of a commercial break between plays, which is what he was writing during that time period,” Benavente said. “They’re very short plays that make us think about the extent of all the productions that were just being performed. Primarily, with Lope de Vega, and they’re kind of like critical responses to the playwrights during that time period.”

Eréndira Santillana, who plays Chirinos, said they chose this entremés because of its social commentary.

“It’s basically criticizing the system and perhaps the government during [the] Golden Age Spanish era,” Santillana said. “The humor and the irony that Cervantes portrays in his entremés is quite related to us in the Hispanic world because we still live among that reality. It’s called in Spanish, la palanca. If you know somebody, you’re more able to obtain a higher position.”

Environmental science and French senior Francisco Arredondo Alcantara, who plays Don Quixote, said his character would imitate celebrities of the time, such as King Arthur, and as a result he grabs inspiration from contemporary celebrities.

“For preparing for the role I’ve started to imitate great celebrities of this century,” Arredondo Alcantara said. “I’m trying to adapt it to a new version of Don Quixote, and that’s what I do. Sometimes during the day I pretend I’m Don Quixote and I answer like Don Quixote to get in the role.”

Arredondo Alcantara said although he grabs inspiration from contemporary artists, the play will be a mixture of both eras.

The cast for “Don Quixote Lost and Found in Translation” includes Rebeca Solomón, playing Sancho Panza; Marisol Córtez, as Teresa; Mariana Arredondo, as Curate; María F. González as Barber; and Victor Gárza, as Rocinante the horse.

“El Retablo de las Maravillas” cast includes Aristeo Tovar, playing Benito Repollo; Maria Garcia, as Chanfalla; Leticia Chapa, as Gobernadora; Rigoberto Rocha, as Juan Castrado; and Lariza Garcia, as Galatea.

“Don Quixote Lost and Found in Translation” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday in the Texas Southmost College SET-B Auditorium. “El Retablo de las Maravillas” will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday in the auditorium and at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the TSC Arts Center.

General admission is $5 and free for UTRGV students. Tickets will be sold in Main 1.534.