La Maleta (The Suitcase)

La Maleta (The Suitcase) is the story of Roca, a ten-year-old refugee who escapes her native Colombia clutching her suitcase – inside which she believes her grandmother is hiding. Struggling to adapt to a new city, a new school and a new way of life, Roca befriends Paz, a boy with a secret who is being bullied by their classmates. Opening the suitcase leads them to embark on an adventure where Roca finds the courage, hope and strength to adapt to her new home. Incorporating both Spanish and English, this production will engage students’ imaginations and provide insight into what a new student who doesn’t speak their language might be feeling and thinking.

Suitable for grades 1+

All tickets are $5, all ages.

October 10, 2019 at 10:30 AM

About the artist

Andrew Lamb is a queer artist who has been the Artistic Director of Roseneath Theatre in Toronto for the last eight seasons. Roseneath is a professional Theatre for Young Audiences touring company that performs social justice and equity themed plays in schools and venues across North America. A graduate of Concordia University, Andrew trained at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, England and spent five seasons as the Director of Education at Tarragon Theatre. Andrew has received two Dora Award nominations for Outstanding Direction and won a Canadian Comedy Award for his direction of the web series A Gay Victorian Affair.

Beatriz Pizano is a writer / director / actor, and the Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre. She has written and directed a number of plays including a trilogy of plays about women and war in Colombia (For Sale, Madre, La Comunión) that received a total of four Dora Mavor Moore Awards and 13 nominations. She has most recently been acclaimed for her roles in Blood Weddings (best female performance, 2015 Dora Awards & a Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award), and in Alien Creature (Theatre Passe Muraille, 2017). She is the Senior Playwright in Residency at The 2019 Playwrights Lab at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.