A Cross-cultural Wedding, a Farce, and a Satire: Sharing the Love in Tallahassee
By Alejandra Gutierrez
Mission San Luis and Theater with a Mission will be presenting a dramatic reconstruction of an Indian-Hispanic Wedding on February 7, 2016. The Spanish groom, Nicolás Méndes and the Native bride, Juana Rodríguez de la Encarnación, together with family and friends, will step out of 1703 to bring history to life with speeches, scenes, and interpretations that are thoroughly researched and vigorously performed. Songs, music and dances from the period will be part of the event that you will surely enjoy with awe and join with gusto. The actors will be dressed in historically accurate costumes to give authenticity to this great cross-cultural romance, which actually happened at Mission San Luis. Besides the wedding ceremony, the audience will enjoy the representation of two complete one-act plays from the period, translated into English that is peppered with extracts from the original plays in Spanish: a farce where young lovers triumph over a love-denying older brother, and a satire that pokes fun at the idea that European civilization is better than New World civilization.
The reconstruction of the wedding at the Mission will be part of the celebration “Share the Love”, that will take place on Sunday February 7, from noon to 4:00 pm. Admission is free.
Don’t miss the opportunity to have a look, up close and personal, at how people lived in Florida’s past, how families were formed, and how ideas about the meaning of life still shape our state.
