IATI Theater To Present World Premiere Of TODAS LAS MARIPOSAS NEGRAS MUEREN EN EL MAR
Performances run September 26–October 5, 2025 in New York City.
By: A.A. Cristi Sep. 25, 2025
This fall, IATI Theater will present the world premiere of Todas las mariposas negras mueren en el mar (All the Black Butterflies Die in the Sea), a haunting and lyrical dance-theater piece by Chilean playwright Heny Ilse Roig Monge.
Presented as part of IATI Theater’s Mainstage Production Season, the work is co-directed by Antígona González and sarAika Movement Collective, and will run September 26 through October 5, 2025, at IATI’s newly reopened cultural home in Manhattan’s East Village.
Melding poetic language, tightly choreographed movement, original sound design, and projected live text, the piece unfolds as a visceral, dreamlike ritual. A chorus of women embody and witness the journey of a single woman navigating trauma, memory, and systemic erasure. Through choreography, ensemble performance, and live media, the production gives form to the psychological and physical experience of confronting trauma and survival.
The title of the play references the species Battus polydamas archidamas, native to Chile and commonly known as the Gold-rimmed Swallowtail. Every so often, hundreds of these butterflies embark on a mysterious journey out to sea, only to die from exhaustion before finding a place to rest. This haunting image becomes the play’s central metaphor: a portrait of womanhood as a perilous, relentless voyage, marked by endurance, fragmentation, and fleeting moments of refuge.
Featuring an exceptional cast that includes Carmen Álvarez, Sandie Luna, Sonia Mera, and Georgina Saldaña, the play is structured in four movements. The performance incorporates choreographed gesture, whispered mantras, typewritten text, and a chorus of women to expose what is often left unsaid: the internal monologues, institutionalized scripts, and inherited silences that shape female experience. The result is a multilayered meditation on memory, agency, and the haunting echo of questions such as: What do you feel, woman?
“This piece does not offer easy answers. It offers presence,” said Winston Estevez, Executive Artistic Director of IATI Theater. “We are proud to bring together a brilliant team of women creators whose artistry doesn’t shy away from the pain, contradictions, or resilience that live in the body. In a time when silence and invisibility still dominate public narratives about women’s mental health, this work insists on being witnessed.”
Performances will take place at IATI Theater, 64 E 4th Street, New York, NY, from September 26 through October 5, 2025. The schedule includes Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $35 general admission and $30 for students and seniors. The running time is approximately 65 minutes with no intermission. The production is performed in Spanish with English supertitles and is recommended for ages 16+ due to mature themes, including psychological distress and references to suicide.
The production team includes Braulio Basilio (production manager), Matías Ulibarry (technical director), Valeria Llaneza (stage manager), María Luisa Portuondo (scenic and costume design), Omayra Garriga Casiano (lighting design), Nicole Fernández (media design), Sophie Yuqing Nie (sound design), and Alejandra Díaz-Pizarro (translation).
About IATI Theater
Founded in 1968, IATI Theater (International Theater Arts Institute) is a New York-based nonprofit performing arts organization dedicated to showcasing contemporary Latinx and Latin American theater, dance, and music. Through full productions, staged readings, artist training, and community engagement, IATI serves as a cultural bridge between artists and underserved communities in NYC and beyond.
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