{"id":182972,"date":"2026-04-02T01:20:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/182972\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T01:20:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:20:04","slug":"new-teatro-fest-nyc-play-petra-focuses-on-the-intersection-between-mental-health-relationships-and-survival-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/182972\/","title":{"rendered":"New Teatro Fest NYC play \u2018Petra\u2019 focuses on the intersection between mental health, relationships and survival\u00a0 \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t Search our comprehensive guide to things to do in the Bronx<\/a> for more local events \u2014 or submit your own<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Tucked inside a red-brick townhouse on E. 140th Street in the South Bronx, sits the iD Studio Theater with a mission to \u201cadvance the artistic and social empowerment of immigrant communities through innovative work in the performing arts.\u201d This year, iD celebrated its 25th anniversary by joining the Alliance of Teatros Latinos NY and participating in Teatro Fest NYC for the first time \u2014 a nearly two-month showcase of multi-disciplinary performances performed, written, directed and produced by all-Hispanic creatives. <\/p>\n

Their featured shows include \u201cThe Vagabond Hotel\u201d which follows immigrant families chasing the American Dream in 1940s Harlem; \u201cArsenio,\u201d a tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez, a prolific blind Cuban musician and composer of the 1950s; and the experimental, two-person play, \u201cPetra.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Written by the theater\u2019s resident playwright Camilo Vergara, the play takes place across three floors, as the audience not only moves through the space, but also through Petra\u2019s stages of life. <\/p>\n

Scene one opens in a small living room with a small couch. The titular character, Petra (Sandie Luna,) enters first. She wears a black dress, black shoes and a stoic sadness on her face. Then enters her partner Diego (Jonathan Hare,) also in all black. Petra\u2019s father has died. Yet, that doesn\u2019t seem the reason for her sullenness. <\/p>\n

This is her first time back home in a while because, as Diego puts it, every visit destroys her. As the two speak, they broach her father\u2019s alcoholism and hint at his physical abuse, but never towards Petra.\u00a0She decides she wants to move back to her hometown where she takes a position at a juvenile detention center. The job destroys her. As the couple exits, a recording of Petra reciting a soliloquy, laden with the sound of chaos and desperation, plays overhead:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then there are these boys coming to my desk, testing me, pushing me, wanting attention, kindness, a smile\u2026like I\u2019m supposed to entertain them. I can\u2019t just tell them to back off. I have to stay open, available, even when I\u2019m empty inside. They cross my boundaries and I don\u2019t know how to protect myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The room goes dark and the audience is asked to move out of the building and up to the second floor.\u00a0
\n\"\"Diego (Jonathan Hare) and Petra (Sandie Luna) cut the final strands of their relationship in the third and final scene of \u201cPetra.\u201d Photo courtesy iD Studio Theater\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a text written on commission for a show that I wanted to do using the whole house as the set,\u201d said German Jaramillo, founder and artistic director of iD Studio Theater. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Petra and Diego] recall many elements of what her life was afterward on the second floor \u2013 and then on the third level, it\u2019s already like the loft where she lives once she has managed to overcome all those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

In scene two, Petra is in bed. Diego sits in a chair across from her and the audience is forced to stand in-the-round. Sharing the space with the actors in such close proximity breaks the \u201cfourth wall\u201d and amplifies the discomfort and awkwardness being shared by the characters as they navigate the aftermath of a very serious and traumatic event. In a bid to make Petra feel \u201cbetter,\u201d Diego offers her chocolate covered raisins, her favorite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Petra has a resentment for Diego and treats him curtly, with backhanded compliments.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[My mother] doesn\u2019t think you\u2019re an idiot,\u201d she tells him. \u201cShe thinks you\u2019re a coward. Not to trust. But not an idiot.\u201d \u201cI always liked your mamushka,\u201d responds Diego. <\/p>\n

Nearly the entire play is delivered in poetic one-liners, each packed with heavy connotations. The dissonance in their conversations is a microcosmic of their relationship. Diego\u2019s inability to understand Petra is apparent. He walks out with a luggage. She runs after him, also with a luggage. Everyone moves to the third floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Petra\u2019s life-long battle with depression is the heartbeat of the play. Themes of not being listened to, the feeling of never being enough and craving to be accepted as she is and not for what she can be, repeat themselves throughout the script.<\/p>\n

On the third floor, Petra cooks an egg dish, filling the air with the smell of onion. Diego sits on the couch. Petra seems empowered, but still angry. She\u2019s dating someone new, she tells Diego. So is he, \u201ckind of,\u201d Diego tells her. <\/p>\n

After partaking in a glass of wine and reminiscing through dance, Petra tells Diego his cab is downstairs. Diego walks out the door \u2013 again \u2013 and presumably for the last time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Actors Sandie Luna and Jonathan Hare, artistic director and founder of iD Studio, German Jaramillo and playwright Camilo Vergara.Photo courtesy iD Studio Theater<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking about past lives, you know, like, previous relationships,\u201d playwright Vergara told the Bronx Times. \u201cWhen we are with that person, we are too in love, it\u2019s too much fear and we don\u2019t pay enough attention to them. And then time passes and then you say, \u2018oh, that relationship with that person taught me that or made me evolve in that sense.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The play forces introspection and forgiveness of those who once graced our lives, but still live in our hearts. It highlights the simultaneous struggle and catharsis of letting go.\n<\/p>\n

As the audience returns to the first floor, they are invited to indulge in complimentary wine and small bites alongside the actors and crew. Doing things differently while embracing community defines iD Studio Theater. <\/p>\n

In addition to putting on innovative performances, they also provide a community building theater workshop where members of the neighborhood can train in stage acting for free and are sometimes cast in plays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI did play Dracula in middle school, but besides that, I\u2019ve never been in a play or taken acting classes,\u201d said Hare, who plays Diego. Although he has no formal actor training, he has sung opera for more than two decades and offers a free introductory lesson for anyone interested.<\/p>\n

Despite its small capacity of no more than about two dozen audience members, the theater has produced more than 20 original plays while staying keen on the community that surrounds them since they moved into their Bronx location in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that is the biggest takeaway, that people know that we exist and that our doors are open and that they\u2019re always welcome and that we will do everything we can to keep them safe,\u201d added Luna whom plays Petra and is also iD Studio\u2019s executive director.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPetra\u201d runs through April 19. Those who cannot afford the $25 ticket can contact the theater directly for accessible pricing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\"\"Facade of the iD Studio Theater on E. 140th Street near Third Avenue in the South Bronx. Photo credit iD Studio Theater\n<\/p>\n

Reach ET Rodriguez at\u00a0etrodriguez317@gmail.com<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>\n

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