For this 35th Anniversary we bring back the best of GALA’s classic and contemporary repertoire, but with a new perspective, and celebrate some of the most prominent writers of the Spanish language. We are excited about our opening show, The Knight from Olmedo by Lope de Vega, which we are mounting in collaboration with dynamic young artists of Spain’s Acción Sur. GALA first staged this play in English in 1985 at its theater in the old Lansburgh. Our restaging of the zany Divorcees, Evangelists and Vegetarians, which was presented in GALA’s Warehouse space in 2003, underscores our long-time relationship with the award-winning Venezuelan writer, Gustavo Ott.

While this is our first experience with Colombian artist Jorge Ali Triana, who will direct his acclaimed adaptation of Innocent Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother, the famous novel by Gabriel García Márquez, we have long admired his work with New York’s Repertorio Español. And, our original musical production, El Jazz Latino, will explore the beat of great personalities of that genre, like the Puerto Rican Tito Puente, who performed in our former home on Park Road. You won’t want to miss our ArteAméricA presenting series either, featuring the spectacular Fuego Flamenco and the provocative Guillermo Gómez Peña. So join us and feel the “new pulse of our seasoned heart.”

Hugo Medrano.