“Si me ven llorando” (If You/They See Me Crying)–a chamber opera based on “La novatada”, one of my short stories published in 8% de desk-cuentos (2006)–will be staged this upcoming August (16-19) at the Victoria Espinosa Theatre, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Si me ven llorando”, a story loaded with hints of the Costumbrismo tradition, occurs in a country house in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, during the 1980s. A Sunday family reunion serves as a pretext to the encounter of several characters (aunts, uncles, and cousins) whose relationships are musically intertwined by the “boleros” played by the omnipresent radio station (WCVC). Blanca and Joaquín–two siblings who will experience love for the first time–star in this opera. Their ilusions and expectations as first-timers are shaken by the patriarchal “machismo”. The Narrator, played by a femal trio, deepens in each scene with the refinement inherent to the feeling.