Hope and the Mission
La Esperanza y la Misión
World Premiere presented by Mission Academy of Performing Arts @ Brava
Friday, April 28 – 12:30pm (Student Matinee)
Friday, April 28 – 7pm
Saturday, April 29 – 7pm
Brava! for Women in the Arts presents the world premiere of Hope and the Mission (La Esperanza y la Misión) – the third annual production by Mission Academy of Performing Arts @ Brava’s youth consortium. Hope and the Mission is a bilingual coming-of-age story revolving around the young character Hope whose Mission District family finds themselves on the sidelines of a changing neighborhood and at odds with each other over generational differences. Alongside the theme of gentrification, the play examines cultural identity and gender fluidity through song, dance, and humor.
Written by emerging local playwright Javier Hurtado, with direction by Gendell Hing-Hernandez, original music by Emily Klion, George Brooks, and Marcelo Pereira, choreography by Jesús Cortés, and costume design by Susana Aragón. Production design is provided by San Francisco Running Crew (SFRC), Brava’s longstanding technical theater program for youth. SFRC students receive lighting design instruction from Cathie Anderson, set design instruction from Anna McGahey Webb, and sound design instruction from David Molina and Edgar Miranda. Hope and the Mission is performed by students of the San Francisco Youth Theatre, Cuicacalli Escuela De Danza, and Mariachi Juvenil La Misión.
Mission Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA@Brava) is a consortium of youth arts programs that train students ages 13–18 in theatrical production and performance. The consortium includes San Francisco Running Crew, Brava’s hands-on training program in theater production, design, and management, run by Melvign Badiola; Cuicacalli Escuela de Danza, which explores the traditions of Mexican Baile Folklorico, hip hop, and modern dance styles, founded by Jesus Cortes; Mariachi Juvenil La Misión, where students learn mariachi-style music through individual coaching and classes, directed by Ariane Cortés; and San Francisco Youth Theatre, offering students high quality performing instruction integrating drama, movement, and music, founded by Bay Area youth theater veteran Emily Klion.
Javier Hurtado (playwright) – Javier Hurtado’s performance work has been staged, read, performed, and produced in colleges, clubs, theaters, and on city streets throughout California, across the Southwest and on the East Coast. In addition to being a Lambda Fellow, he is a GLUCK Foundation Theater Fellow, and an alumnus of the NALAC Leadership Academy and the Maria Irene Fornés Playwriting Workshop. Before moving to Riverside to pursue an MFA in Playwriting at the University of California, Riverside, Hurtado was based in the Bay Area and worked for the MAPA program at Brava.
Gendell Hing-Hernandez (director) – Gendell Hing-Hernandez was born in Havana, Cuba, and has been a Bay Area actor, director, and teaching artist since 1997. As an actor and a director he has collaborated with Word for Word, Campo Santo, Theaterworks, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, Center Rep, New Pickle Circus, Teatro Vision, Felonious, Teatro del Juglar, Oakland Public Theater, and the Pacific Alliance Stage Company. Productions include Around The World In 80 Days, The Cook, Blood Wedding, Oil!, Food Stories, Beatbox: A Raparretta, House on Mango Street, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and Demetrius Unbound. As a teaching artist, Hing-Hernandez has been sent into classrooms, libraries, and jails all over the Bay Area by Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, Word for Word, SF Shakes, TheatreWorks, Alphabet Rockers, and Theater of Yugen. He is currently an Associate Artist of Word for Word, a member of the Alphabet Rockers, and teaches theater in the United States, Cuba, and France.
MAPA@Brava is supported by the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund. Hope and the Mission was funded in part by the California Arts Council.