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The two protagonists of “Espejos: Clean” come from different worlds. Hard-working Adriana and Sarah — who seemingly has everything handed to her and complains throughout her sister’s paradise destination wedding — are brought together by a misunderstanding.

“The experience of being misunderstood from assumptions that we make about others — I’ve done it, we’ve all done it,” said Melissa Crespo, the play’s director. “That’s the heart of the play,”

“Espejos: Clean” opened on Feb. 15 and will run until March 5. The two protagonists meet at a hotel in Mexico, where Adriana is the hotel’s manager and Sarah is a maid of honor at her sister’s destination wedding. The play tells their stories in their two different languages, Spanish and English.

Although both women appear extremely different to one another at the beginning of the play, they reveal most of their personal history to each other and realize they actually have a lot in common. After their chance meeting during a tropical storm at the resort, the two women realize they must reconnect with their families to heal the emotional wounds from their young adult life.

Throughout the play, a prompter above the actors produces active translations, so that the audience can understand both characters. Crespo said that matching up the actor’s dialogue to the translations above them was a challenge to master during rehearsals.

“The timing of the supertitles has to perfectly match up with the action,” Crespo said. “You don’t want to give away a joke too early. There was a specific rhythm.”

Though focusing on both directing and the supertitles was difficult and somewhat risky, the excitement for the production was worth it, Crespo said. While the aspect of incorporating multiple languages in the play appealed to audiences, Crespo said there was certainly some difficulty in producing a bilingual play.

“The act of translation from one language to another, no matter what language it is, there is always a question of interpretation,” she said, “In Spanish, there are way more adjectives and words than we have for certain English words.”

Crespo said that working alongside the playwright, Christine Quintana, helped to overcome these difficulties. As this is a relatively new play, the translations still had nuances Crespo wanted to understand with Quintana’s help. Together, they dissected each line so that Quintana’s message would still come through in the translations. In the end, they were able to translate the Spanish dialogue closely as they could for the English transcriptions.

‘Espejos: Clean’ tells the story of Adriana and Sarah’s chance meeting in both Spanish and English by utilizing supertitles. Cassandra Roshu | Asst. Photo Editor

One goal of the play was to make the production accessible to members of the Latinx community. Tere Paniagua, audience member and the director of La Casita — a program at SU built to connect the Latinx communities of SU and the city through education and civic engagement — said the play was successful in doing this.

While the play was in production, La Casita hosted a workshop hosted for Placa — a program for Latin American and Caribbean students at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs — to read and analyze the play together. Syracuse Stage staff took part in the workshop as well.

“The students really connected with the story (and) the fact that it’s bilingual. Some of the youth have Spanish as their first language, and often, there is a language barrier,” Paniagua said. “This opened a whole world of opportunities for students to participate and understand what’s going on. It was a marvelous experience.”

Crespo had to set aside time for the actors, Kate Abruzzese and Emma Ramos, to comprehend the lines. With longer rehearsals, understanding the complexities of the play in two different languages, and being the only two on stage throughout the two hour play, Crespo was impressed by their dedication.

Jill Anderson, the managing director at Syracuse Stage, added that rehearsals for “Espejos: Clean” were inclusive to everyone and their varying proficiency in both languages, similarly to other bilingual productions she has worked on. The cast and crew prioritized being patient with each other as they actively translated and comprehended two languages throughout the play.

One evening during a torrential downpour at a high-end resort in Cancun, Mexico, Adriana’s and Sarah’s worlds collide. What comes next is an eye-opening story told with heart and humor about the ties that bind us and the importance of making meaningful connections.
ESPEJOS: CLEAN. On stage through March 5 only.
#espejoscuse #theatre #theater #newplay #drama #dramedy #latino #latina #cancun @melanncrespo @iamemmaramos @kaybroozayzay @christinequinty

A photo posted by syracusestage

“The processes I’ve been part of have been fairly consistent, with a particular focus on creating welcoming and inclusive rehearsal rooms in which folks — regardless of language skills — are part of the team working to bring the production to life,” Anderson said.

Another key aspect of the play was the intricate design of the set, said Mariana Sanchez, the play’s set designer. The set utilizes actual water throughout the play, which serves as a vehicle for the transformation of the characters, Sanchez said. Blue lighting took the form of a wave washing over the stage through a series of projections, and consequently, the actors appeared to be cleansed. The complex set, paired with projected images, offered a grand visual for the audience.

“A lot was going on. I’ve never seen anything like it,” audience member Mary Fitzsimmons said. “It was visually and audibly entertaining,”

Anderson, Crespo and Paniagua all emphasized the originality of the play. Between the creative set design, lighting, use of dynamic language and the multitude of themes, they were impressed with the final result of the play.

“I love plays that ask challenging questions,” Crespo said. “It’s so rich with a lot of experiences that we all can relate to, and it’s done in a very different way. I’m always looking for plays that I’ve never seen before.”

Published on February 26, 2023 at 10:47 pm