SOMEWHERE, THERE ARE ROOSTERS to Make World Premiere at Chain One-Act Summer Festival
Directed by Gama Valle, the show stars Noelia Flores and Josafat Concepción in an immersive auction experience.
The world premiere of Somewhere, There Are Roosters, written by Peruvian playwright and actress Noelia Flores, brings one of the most compelling voices in contemporary South American literature to the New York stage. Presented as part of The Chain One-Act Summer Festival 2026, the immersive theatrical adaptation is inspired by "Auction" ("Subasta"), the acclaimed short story by internationally acclaimed Ecuadorian author María Fernanda Ampuero.
Directed by Gama Valle, the production stars playwright Noelia Flores as Gloria opposite Josafat Concepción as the charismatic Auctioneer. The play follows Gloria, a woman who accepts a late-night taxi ride after a failed date, only to awaken inside a clandestine human auction where wealthy men bid on kidnapped victims. As she awaits her fate, memories of a childhood shaped by cockfights expose a lifetime marked by misogyny, violence, and survival.
Known for blending social realism with horror, María Fernanda Ampuero has become one of the defining voices of contemporary Latin American literature. Her stories confront gender-based violence, class inequality, and the legacy of colonialism through visceral narratives where the body becomes both a battlefield and a site of resistance. Somewhere, There Are Roosters translates that literary tradition into an immersive theatrical experience, bringing South American feminist literature to New York audiences in a bold new form.
More than a psychological thriller, the production embraces the language of body horror to explore how violence transforms the human body and identity. Upon entering the theater, audience members receive auction paddles and become participants in a clandestine human auction, blurring the line between witness and accomplice. The play unfolds in a charged atmosphere filled with the sounds of cumbia, a musical tradition deeply rooted across much of South America. Festive yet unsettling, the music heightens the tension between celebration and brutality while immersing audiences in a world where violence has become entertainment.
"This play asks what happens when violence becomes entertainment and when human beings are reduced to commodities. Gloria's story is deeply personal, but it also reflects the experiences of countless women whose lives have been shaped by systems of oppression," says playwright Noelia Flores.
The production brings together two Latin American performers whose work drives the emotional and political force of the play. As Gloria fights to preserve her humanity, Josafat Concepción's magnetic performance as the Auctioneer seduces audiences into becoming participants in the sale, exposing how charisma and spectacle can normalize violence.
For Flores, whose body of work explores migration, memory, colonialism, and systems of power through the experiences of Latin American women, the adaptation represents a dialogue between contemporary South American literature and immersive theater. While rooted in a distinctly Latin American reality, Somewhere, There Are Roosters speaks to urgent global conversations about misogyny, human trafficking, and the commercialization of human lives.
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