Published March 27. 2026 04:35AM<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Gringa\u201d is about a young woman who visits Puerto Rico to find her roots.<\/p>\n
Its themes of family and heritage will be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what part of the world your ancestors came from.<\/p>\n
There are dramatic moments, but the production of the play, through March 29, The Pennsylvania Playhouse, Bethlehem, has a breezy touch overall with many comedic moments.<\/p>\n
The March 20 performance was seen for this review.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Gringa,\u201d written by Carmen Rivera-Tirado, has a Spanish and English version. The Pennsylvania Playhouse production is in English.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Gringa\u201d is the longest-running Spanish off-Broadway play. At times, it has been performed bi-lingually. \u201cLa Gringa\u201d translates as \u201cThe American,\u201d reflecting the outsider status the play\u2019s protagonist Maria works to overcome.<\/p>\n
Maria (Tatiana Torres) is visiting the home in Puerto Rico of her aunt Norma (Sonia Collazo Strockyj).<\/p>\n
Norma\u2019s daughter Iris (Julisa Trinidad) can\u2019t find a job.<\/p>\n
Family and neighbors think that Maria\u2019s plans to move to Puerto Rico and work there are naive.<\/p>\n
Norma\u2019s brother Manolo (Charles Dalrymple), who is confined upstairs because of illness, is more welcoming. He and Maria form a friendship that motivates him to leave his room after many years.<\/p>\n
A neighbor Ramon (Justin Ferguson) tries to help Maria by inviting her to work on his farm.<\/p>\n
Torres is sparkling in her cheery excitement, later tempered by painful disappointments as she tries to adjust.<\/p>\n
Strockyj has a more serious part as she displays her doubts about the ownership of the house, paid for by American relatives.<\/p>\n
The conflict culminates in a touching scene between her and her husband Victor (Nick Lopez, who is the play\u2019s director).<\/p>\n
Trinidad plays well with Torres with respect to their characters\u2019 tension and friendship.<\/p>\n
Dalrymple\u2006is appealing as a wise fool regaining control of his movements and his life.<\/p>\n
The set, designed by Brett Oliveira, who also designed the lighting, is a kitchen with a dining table; appliances and a sink are along the back. Manolo\u2019s bedroom is created with two chairs, one a lounger, on a platform a few steps above the main stage.<\/p>\n
Other scenes, for the farm, cemetery and rain forest, are represented by photographs projected on a screen above the stage.<\/p>\n
Costume designer is Todd Burkel<\/p>\n
The range in performances and moods makes the play, at little more than two hours, move quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201dLa Gringa\u201d has important themes that are never forced on the audience. Instead, they come to you with humor and heart, particularly in this production with uniformly great acting.<\/p>\n
\u201cLa Gringa,\u201d 7:30 p.m. March 20, 21, 28; 3 p.m. March 29, Pennsylvania Playhouse, 390 Illick\u2019s Mill Road, Bethlehem. 610-865-6665, http:\/\/www.paplayhouse.org\/<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY MARQUETT FERRELLLeft to right: Justin Ferguson (Ramon), Sonia Collazo Strockyj (Norma), Charlie Dalrymple (Manolo), Tatiana Torres (Maria) and Julisa Trinidad (Iris), \u201cLa Gringa,\u201d Pennsylvania Playhouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published March 27. 2026 04:35AM \u201cLa Gringa\u201d is about a young woman who visits Puerto Rico to find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-149874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}