Interview: Iraisa Ann Reilly of A BODEGA PRINCESS REMEMBERS LA FIESTA DE LOS REYES MAGOS, 1998 at Story Keepers

As part of the inaugural Pinellas County Theatre Week, audiences will have the rare opportunity to experience the Florida premiere of A Bodega Princess Remembers La Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos, 1998, the acclaimed Off-Broadway solo show written and performed by Iraisa Ann Reilly. Directed by José Avilés, the immersive production runs November 12-22 in Pinellas Park and serves as the headline production of the countywide celebration of live theatre.

Fresh from its acclaimed run at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, the production invites audiences into a joyous memory play centered on the annual Three Kings Day celebration that shaped Reilly's childhood. The story unfolds inside the banquet hall of her church during a festive community gathering filled with music, dancing, family traditions, and the excitement of a young girl discovering who she wants to be.

What makes this production especially unique is where it will be performed. Story Keepers is staging the show inside the fellowship hall of First United Methodist Church of Pinellas Park, creating an experience that closely mirrors the setting of the play itself. With only about 35 audience members per performance and seating just feet from the action, the production is designed to feel more like an actual community celebration than a traditional theatrical event.

"I wanted the audience to feel like they were a part of the show itself," Reilly said. "And that it was more of a party than just like me talking at the audience or telling a story. I did want it to feel like a celebration."

In fact, audience participation is built into the evening.

"It's sort of not a one-person show because there's audience involvement," she explained. "People from the audience do come on stage at certain points in the show."

The production began more than a decade ago as a short storytelling piece about Reilly's first public performance, singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in Spanish during a local Three Kings Day celebration. The story lingered with her through graduate school, the pandemic, and a move back home before evolving into a full-length theatrical work.

The catalyst ultimately came on January 6, 2021.

"As I was watching the insurrection on TV in real time, I was realizing when I think of January 6, I think of this beautiful community celebration, this really happy memory for me," Reilly said. "It's both religious and about community. I worried that the date January 6 would be associated with hate rather than something I always associated with love and sacred."

The playwright also found herself reflecting on the experiences of her family, who immigrated from Cuba decades earlier.

"My mom and my grandparents came from Cuba in the 60s, and they worked so hard to hold on to traditions for me and to pass on traditions that were important," she said. "I felt the responsibility to continue telling their story and holding on to these traditions."

The result is a deeply personal theatrical experience that balances family memories with larger themes of cultural identity and belonging. Although based on real events and people, Reilly said the creative challenge was finding the emotional truth inside those memories.

"My goal is always to get to the truth of emotion and the truth of the essence of who people were," she said. "What we're really appreciating and taking in as an audience is the truth of emotion and the truth of who somebody was."

Throughout the performance, audiences encounter the sights, sounds, and cultural touchstones of the 1990s. References to Celia Cruz, Selena, Ricky Martin, Spanish-language television, family gatherings, and childhood nostalgia are woven into the storytelling.

Yet Reilly hopes audiences leave with something more universal than nostalgia.

"I hope that they learn how much joy there is in my community," she said. "I think one of the things that is beautiful about the community I grew up in is the effort elders made to preserve traditions and to create joy for us."

She also hopes audience members recognize pieces of their own lives in the story.

"Whether you're Latinx or not, I want audiences to recognize themselves in it, recognize their own traditions and relate to the people and the stories that are being told."

One of the most rewarding aspects of performing the show has been hearing audiences connect it to their own families.

"People come up to me and say, 'This reminds me of my mom,' or 'This reminds me of my grandmother,' or that person in my town who made me realize who I wanted to be," Reilly said. "People understanding the mission to foster joy and community has been really rewarding."

She's particularly excited about this Florida production because of the setting.

"One of the exciting things about Story Keepers is that they do theatre in non-traditional theatre spaces," Reilly said. "This play takes place in the basement cafeteria of my church growing up. We're doing the show in the setting that it originally took place. That is really cool."

TheaterMania compared the work to a favorite Christmas movie you'll want to revisit year after year, and Reilly hopes audiences leave with that same feeling.

"I want them to feel like they just went to the best party, the best Christmas party they've ever been to," she said. "I want them to feel joy. And I really want a sense of hope."