A pair of Nilo Cruz plays heads for South Florida stages

Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami playwright Nilo Cruz has two South Florida productions on the horizon, one beginning on Thursday and the other a world premiere set for September.

Cruz is directing a Spanish-language production of his play Belleza del padre (Beauty of the Father), which premiered in English at New Theatre in 2004, at the On.Stage Black Box at Miami-Dade County Auditorium. Produced by Arca Images, the play stars Francisco Gattorno, Roberto San Martín, Ariel Texidó, Camila Duarte and Anna Silvetti. Set in seaside Andalucia, Spain, the drama focuses on an estranged father and daughter who fall in love with the same Moroccan immigrant, as the ghost of poet Federico García Lorca wanders among the living.

Performances, which will feature English supertitles, are at 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, from July 30 to Aug. 8. Tickets are $30 ($25 for students and seniors). The On.Stage Black Box is at 2901 W. Flagler St., Miami. Call 786-327-4539 or visit www.arcaimages.org.

Also in Cruz news, the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center will present the world premiere of Tsunami, a play by Cruz and University of Miami theater faculty member Michiko Kitayama, Sept. 12-Oct. 3. Based on interviews done in Japan, the docudrama focuses on the stories of resilient people affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Co-presented with the University of Miami and Arca Images, Tsunami will be directed by Cruz. On opening weekend, performances are at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 12, 2:30 p.m. Sept. 13; thereafter, performances are at 8:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through Oct. 3. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 the day of the show. The center is at 10950 SW 211th St., Cutler Bay. For information, call 786-573-5300 or visit www.smdcac.org.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "A pair of Nilo Cruz plays heads for South Florida stages."