TampaRep and Creative Loafing Present Reading of SWIMMING WHILE DROWNING

It's the last Conversation Starter of the season! TampaRep and Creative Loafing have teamed up to bring staged readings of new and exciting plays to the Creative Loafing Space. Our final reading for this season takes place on April 10th at 7:30pm. This time, it's Swimming While Drowning, by Emilio Rodriguez, directed by Matthew Ray.

The play follows teenager Angelo Mendez who decides to leave his home out of fear of further disappointing his homophobic father. When he does, he encounters a world he was not prepared for. He meets a fellow homeless teen at an LGBT homeless shelter in Los Angeles who gives him a voice and unexpectedly introduces him to love. Spoken word poetry and teen romance collide in this coming of age story as two homeless teens find inspiration to live life on their own terms. It's a dark romantic comedy that is simultaneously gritty, sweet, funny, heartbreaking and real.

Emilio Rodriguez and his work have been a part of various festivals including the inaugural 2015 Latino Theatre Common's Carnaval of New Works (Swimming While Drowning), the inaugural Activate Midwest Festival at Western Michigan University (Spin), and the Austin Latino New Play Festival (Mamacita and the Negrito). Emilio was selected for a residency with the prestigious Djerassi Artist Residency Program and the recently founded Mitten Lab in Traverse City, Michigan. Additionally, Emilio was a 2015 finalist for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's Excellence in Playwriting Award and 2016 Finalist for the Playwright's Center Many Voices Fellowship.

Swimming While Drowning recently received its world premiere at the Milagro Theatre in Portland, Oregon. One reviewer noted "The story brings all the goods you might want from a drama, including sex and violence, but in a careful and deliberate manner that forces us to consider how we look at our youth."

As always with Conversation Starters, there's a cash bar and post-performance discussion.

Monday, April 10, 2017
7:30pm
CL Space
1911 N. 13th Street, Tampa
Tickets: $10, available at TampaRep.org/Swimming or at the door

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