Raquel is the artistic director of La Lucha Arts Group, dedicated to producing dynamic new work in theatre /film /dance/ visual art/ media. She Wolves, The Hopefulness and Death of the Doll video project have been co-produced by La Lucha.
Click on title of each project to download monologue excerpts from each play. Contact laluchaartsco@hotmail.com in interest in use of the monologues and or obtaining a copy of the full text.
Contribute to themes of raquel's new piece on the blogspot on the contact page.
SHE WOLVES : Women in Sex, Death and Rebirth (One Person Show)
2002- Present / 2007 The New York International Fringe Festival
SheWolves: Women in Sex, Death and Rebirth - is a multi-media theatrical production, written/ performed by
Raquel Almazan directed by Dora Arreola. She Wolves unleashes the nature of women, as female archetypes, the Ancient Warrior, the Falsely Enlightened Corset, the C.E.O., Housewife and Futuristic Virgin Stripper collide in this multi-layered collaboration of movement, media and text. The traditional roles of women in myth, culture, power and sex in society are challenged as the pack of she wolves engage us in an exciting, humorous, extreme and startling contradictory view of women. Video by Tatiana Sainz, Installation and Graphic Design by Fermin Gonzalez. Illustration by Juan Carballo. Original music by D.J. Le Spam, Out of the Anonymous, Erwin Binek, and Kenny 5.
Tropiculture Miami and Florida Arts have already funded the first run of She Wolves and now Raquel is building a social dialogue by touring the United States with excerpts and workshops from her production. Performance venues of excerpts include P.S. 122, Art Basel and LA Scope Festival and The National Women's Studies Conference. A run of the entire new work premiered at the NYC Fringe Festival 07. Raquel has also workshopped the play with women at maximum-security prisons in Broward and Homestead , South Florida and at Rikers Island , NY . Residencies with her production focus on the creative and community outreach developmental process of solo/group work based on oral histories and autobiographical material within a variety of themes.
DEATH OF THE DOLL- short video project and feature length screenplay
“A Virgin Stripper's journey into holiness”
Written by and featuring Raquel this media project was shot in Miami , with a cast and crew from South Florida . This movie has screened at the First Annual Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza at Casa0101 Theatre–(Los Angeles, CA) alongside Josefina Lopez's , author of ‘Real Women Have Curves' new film and is in preparation for future film festivals and feature production. Selection into the (NALIP) National Association of Latino Independent Producers Writers Lab for Death of the Doll screenplay. Voted 1 st place at the 2006 New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) Latino Pitch Session.
This video centers on a young virgin stripper Mari, from Juarez , Mexico now living in America , whose hopes of crossing her mother over the border and quitting her job are crushed by her mother's sudden death. She is pushed over the edge after a violent episode with a customer as she has hallucinatory dreams of being reunited with her mother. When an attractive priest Andrew, posing as a journalist begins interview sessions at the club; Mari is forced to reevaluate her obsession with Catholicism, secret interests in pursuing politics and the need to break free from the controlling Madame Laura. Causing them both to discover holiness in the most unexpected of places.
DEATH OF THE DOLL PLAYS
VERSION 1: DEATH OF THE DOLL
One person stage play , opens up with “Maria” a stripper, late 30's whose young son has just given her an ultimatum of quitting that night or running away forever. After being grilled by a reporter, she escapes to her dressing room where our interview reveals her humorous yet tough philosophy on the underground strip world, making men cry, why she hates wives and the justifications of her lifestyle. As Maria struggles to make her final decision, her violent past is unearthed, which leads us to her to where she is now, uncovering a crime recently committed against a fellow stripper that has pushed her son over the edge.
Thesis project at New World School of the Arts
VERSION 2: DEATH OF THE DOLL : A STRIPPER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE
(one person theatre show) this play was work shoped with a grant from Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs into an artist's residency with Artemis Organization.
After being raped and mutilated, a young stripper Maria, awakens in purgatory, her dialogues with God help her to discover the militaristic history of violence within her Catholic origins. As Maria struggles with her desire to become the Virgin Mary figure she is forced to reconcile with her dead child that becomes all the more real in this imaginary world. We purge through the seven stages of the afterlife as Maria realizes who her killers are.
THE HOPEFULNESS OR LA ESPERANZA (full length) – Produced by La Lucha Arts Group and Danisarte, was presented as part of the 4 Caminos Festival at the Latino Cultural Center in NYC.
Directed by Dora Arreola, Raquel as Jacqueline.
Two Sister prostitutes Anna and Jacqueline, trapped in a box on a ship leaving the Dominican Republic make their way to France to achieve their dreams of prosperity. Ana and Jacqueline's dangerous journey reveals secrets of their past, where their clients, father , lovers and mother's role become intertwined. Their violent escape prompts a challenging fight for identity and survival in the immigrant struggle to conquer the Old World .
2 characters
LA PALOMA PRISONER - With La Mama Theatre Company she work shopped her play La Paloma Prisoner in Italy August 2008 Playwriting Retreat. Excerpt readings at La Galleria Space with La Mama Feb 2009. Continued development at The Labyrinth Theatre Intensive 09.
Based on the Real life story of Colombian serial killer Rosario Tijeras, this new play centers on a killer nick named La Paloma Prisoner who targets men who rapes girls. During her incarceration, male rapists throughout Colombia continue to turn up dead, leading the public to believe La Paloma may have magical avenger abilities. With the spread of the beauty pageant obsession in South American prisons, this group of female prisoners organize “The Parade of Prisoners”, calling on ancient rituals of adorning the warrior with this newfound power, the women redefine beauty, their own humanity and their identity as criminals. La Paloma begins to revolutionize not only the women’s lives, but prison society and the world beyond its’ walls.
GLOSSY PAGE PIMPS (one act) - Written and performed by Teo Castellanos and Raquel Almazan, featuring music by DJ Snowhite and directed by Michael John Garces, Glossy Page Pimps is a critical and humorous assessment of popular culture‘s misogynistic slant that explores the oldest profession of Pimpin' and Ho's set to a soundtrack of old school funk and contemporary Hip Hop. Commissioned and staged reading at Miami Light Project.
2 characters
From music videos on BET and MTV, commercials on major networks and print advertisements in magazines, we are constantly assaulted by images and sounds that objectify women and other minorities. However, there is debate that if a woman is an active participant-willingly modeling or dancing-then it isn't misogynistic or denigrating. Who owns images? Who decides how genders and different racial groups will be defined? How do those definitions and descriptions ultimately affect generations of youth and their self-image? How does it effect overall race relations and progressive movements in the United States? D-Projects will set the stage to explore these questions in a work that reflects a sorely needed female voice in a male dominated Hip Hop community. Glossy Page Pimps will offer genuine aspects of women's lives and explore issues pertinent to them, within a spectrum ranging from the blatant chauvinism of commercial rap to the message of unity.
ANOMIE (full length)- a multi-media dance theatre piece written in collaboration with writers and performers April Henry, Anna- Maria Rajala, Natasha Tsakos under the direction of Andrew Noble and Mike Maria. Choreographed by Octavio Campos.
This production ran from Oct 25-27 2001 at the Performance Space 742 in Miami , Florida . and was funded by Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs.
A theatrical explosion into mind, myth and madness, depicts the life of a Fool Archetype and how he came to be. In this dreamlike fantasia, music, movement and text are the keys to opening mystical doorways that lead to secret pathways. The dance theatre piece unfolds the mysteries of snow queens, ghouls and warriors. The characters are mythical parallels revealing the archetypes of modern society.
JUNKYARD FOOD (full length) - was produced at the New Playwrights Festival at the Louis O Gerrits Theatre and was directed by David Kwiat performances by Tarrell Mc Crane and Rodney Gardner
Junkyard Food a new play, reveals the struggle of two brothers, the older Bill hungry to burn down the family Junkyard, and the younger “baby boy”, Henry obsessed with exposing the violent secrets the Junkyard is hiding. Henry fights for their lives and their abusive love in an uncertain future with newly dead parents. As theirparent's ghosts haunt them, Henry forces Bill to awaken to the horrors of his crimes and their hidden past.
2 characters
UR-FAUST – A Lunatic Mythical Opera For The Millennium (full length) was first produced at the New World Conservatory and then toured to Hyterio Theatre in Athens , Greece . Jorge Guerra directed and Ocatvio Campos choreographed. Raquel served with dramaturgy and performed as Margaret.
An impressionistic approach to the legend of Faust, taking episodes from Goethe: a middle aged successful professor comes to a point in his life where nothing satisfies him. In despair he conjures the dark spirits that initiates a series of adventures in his attempt to conquer society. Using a variety of mixed media and movement this multi-layered theatre piece examines the breakdown of the Y2K syndrome as we look into “ UR ” meaning primitive- drive of Faust in all of us.
BLOOD BITS (full length)- was part of a workshop reading at New World Conservatory with Edward
Albee at the Louis O Gerrits Theatre
Sonia a twenty seven year old escort prostitute attempts to celebrate the engagement of a fellow co-worker Joni to an old dying rich client. They enter into a revealing moral debate on their profession, the false escape of Joni's marriage and the danger Sonia leads to in reuniting with the married man she has been running from. When Sonia finally meets up with her lost destructive love in a motel room she has to face up to who she has let herself become.
3 characters
ALIVE DEAD BABY (full length)- Received a reading at New World Conservatory and excerpts at the Drama Book Shop in NYC.
Mama and Sidney, (mother and daughter), have fled to a self built cabin in the woods in hopes of escaping horrors of their former life. After Sidney is attacked by a stranger, she forces Mama to reveal that real live past ghosts have come to haunt them in this dire time. Their violent love for one another is challenged when Sidney discovers who she really is and has to fight with her newfound knowledge to keep her and Mama alive.
2 characters
THREE- BIT HOODS (one act)- Received a reading at Third Street Black Box in Miami , Florida
Mia in her late twenties is married to mafia goon Johnny who promises to get them out of their Chicago hide out apartment by finishing one last job. Suzanne their criminal neighbor pushes Mia to leave the apartment with her on a dangerous cinema outing; forcing Mia to reexamine the life she has chosen for herself and if she's not just better off tackling the world alone without Johnny.
3 characters
WATER LOCKED BETWEEN US (one act)- Sarah a twenty eight yr old good girl gets intoxicated at dock tiki bar to find her navy boy finance has left her. As Lole the restaurant owner tries to console her to go home, an attractive twenty three yr old sailor Lane comes in looking to score and win a bet with the guys on the ship. Predator and prey ensue in a revealing battle of vulnerable desperation that have led both of them to this turning point that could change their lives forever.
3 characters
COME HOME FOR DINNER (one act)- Laura in her mid forties prepares a surprise gourmet meal for her husband Michael in attempt to keep their frail marriage together only to discover that her worst suspicions to be true. As the couple's secrets are surfaced they face a future with newly found fears.
2 characters
DEAD END RACKET (one act) – Mira- early forties in Queens , New York is a mafia associate who is looking to leave the rackets and as much money to her dying mother. Her final assignment gets complicated when her jailbird husband Larry shows up to even an unsettled score.
3 characters
HOLDING SOIL (one act) – Set against the Depression era, The Glenn couple cling to false hopes of holding onto their home. Their lost faith in God and the fear that their daughter Lilly will start a life with the work hand Paul threatens to destroy the family.
4 characters
POUNDING ON DEATH'S DOOR WITHOUT AN INVITATION (full length)- Amera Clay, a Hollywood has been actress in her fifties, attempts to commit suicide in her off-off-off Broadway dressing room. Only to be stopped by the ghost of her three dead husbands who reel her into her glorious past, deception, true love and mysterious baby that destroyed her marriages.
5 characters
TOM AND MARTHA (one act) - Right outside of Phoenix , Arizona , Tom and Martha, estranged middle aged rebel lovers reunite at Lula's 24 hour diner, after a twenty year hiatus. They recant their wild past, what lead them to their stable lives and the unyielding desperate longing for one another that still binds them together.
3 characters
WHEN CAN I DIE SO I CAN START LIVING? (full length) – Two brothers are surprised with the sudden death of their grandfather in their New York City apartment. As Jake thirty-two, tries to get the younger Bobby twenty nine, to pull away from his dreams in art and resign to pursue the basic American Dream. Bobby forces Jake to realize the façade that has made him a success and what has always been pulling him away from the family.
2 characters
MAKE IT A DOUBLE (full length) – Angelica, an alcoholic lounge singer stumbles into her performance bar to celebrate her forty fifth birthday only to delve deep into her mid life crisis; inability to understand men, love, and inevitable aging.
One person show
List and Text samples upon request
FULL LENGTH PLAYS IN PROGRESS
PORNING THE PLANET - -The De-Sensitiz Nation of a Generation
A star is born- porn star that is- Based on the real film Brenna loves Jenna, this darkly comedic play PorningthePlanet follows SENSORA on a surreal journey. As the porn star chosen by NASA for the making of the film PORNING THE PLANET, SENSORA attempts to answer multiple personality disorder through the building of porn persona. On of her way to meet Hugh Hiefner our savior transforms from naive beauty pageant queen, to enlightened porn star, to snuff assassinated president. Leaving her no option but to escape the planet, launching into the galaxy. Porn star as alien embodies the last frontier for men to conquer.
All multi-media in the show reflects images we download from her mind. Her memories are porn. Her daily rituals can be downloaded for mass consumption. This piece explores the impact that pornography has had on our consciousness, in our method of communicating, and loving/hating. Our creation of De-Sensitiz Nation.
This piece will also be built with the contribution of interviews, recordings and blogs based on the community's experience with pornography.
DICTATOR…I AM MY FATHER FRANCO -An absurdist piece dealing with alter ego. Two Spanish women, one in her 30's and one in her 70's fantasize about becoming Franco the dictator. Together they discover their relationships to their fathers through puppets. Their obsessive Spanish nationalism and identification with prostitutes instigates a new movement.
SUBTERRAN - Ten diverse people experience spontaneous narcolepsy on a New York City Subway.
THE DEAD EAT WITH THE LIVING – Set in a small town in Spain , a middle aged woman awaits her missing husband as her brother in law fights for them to start a new life together.
LA MATANZA or THE KILLING - The First Lady of an anonymous Latin American country tries to save her political position as a riot ensues outside her palace walls.