By Ben Gunter
Where can you shake hands with a Spanish governor from Florida 400 years ago, then pat a horse whose ancestors came to Florida 300 years ago, and put your hands together to celebrate Florida becoming a US territory 200 years ago? Where can you see plays from the Spanish Golden Age that will tickle your funny-bone, hear Elizabethan songs that will enchant your ears, and watch Shakespeare and Cervantes come back from the dead to go head to head in a smackdown for the title of World Champion Storyteller? Where can you taste Florida fusion food from the 1600s, play a game of alquerque (the great-grandfather of checkers) from the 1700s, and get your body moving to a spicy salsa dance from the 1800s?
The Loco for Love Festival is your free passport to these priceless adventures. Coming to Tallahassee’s Railroad Square Art District this September 13-15, the Loco for Love Festival takes you traveling through time, to meet characters, critters, concepts, and conflicts that connect Spanish-speaking Florida with English-speaking Florida.
Loco for Love lets you explore an enormous variety of games, foods, experiences, and ideas with hands-on intimacy. You can learn secrets of the pro wrestling ring from Kiko & Kody, That Klassic Tag-Team from Orlando. You can sing along to Evensong with Tallahassee’s St. John’s Choir, reviving rounds that Shakespeare heard in church. You can help Dragoncillo Puppet Troupe (hailing all the way from Michigan) build a brand-new puppet to star in Second Hands, a play from the 1600s that pokes fun at people who try to look younger by buying new body parts from the second-hand store. Then you can step into the world of the Capulets and Montagues, Lope de Vega’s great retelling of the ever-young lovers Romeo & Juliet … this time with a happy ending!
The Festival starts Friday night at 6 p.m., with Real Paella cooking Valencian paella mixta, then letting you taste the results. Drama follows the dining, as Theater with a Mission performs the classical comedy El retablo de las maravillas, Where Only the Pure See Miracles, where the author of Don Quixote laughs at the idea that bloodlines make some people better than others. Then Tallahassee Salsa presents a sultry exhibition by two competition couples, to kick off dancing in the streets at 9 p.m. It’s a royal welcome to Spanish Florida!
Saturday the Festival runs from 11 a.m. till 9 p.m. During the day, experts show children of all ages how to make a puppet and tell a story with it, how to build a Don Quixote shield and go on a quest with it, how to decorate a Romeo & Juliet mask and dance with it, and how to follow an ancient Florida recipe and cook up something scrumptious with it. Dragoncillo Puppet Theater performs The Fabulous Johnny Frog, introducing you to the most famous funny-man in 1600s Spain, dancers from the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium present Un Poquito de México, re-creating moves from Aztec and mestizo cultures, and Nina the Galiceña horse brings you face to face withthe great-great-granddaughter of steeds that Spanish settlers brought to Florida 400 years ago. Saturday night, the Festival celebrates the 200th anniversary of Florida becoming a US territory. Theater with a Mission presents a new play called Florida for Sale, featuring American, Spanish, and African characters from 1819 who tell you their own perspective on the Florida Treaty in their own words, then there is cake and ice cream. It’s a Happy Birthday, Florida party!
Sunday activities run from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. The day starts with workshops on puppetry, dancing, dueling, and historical costumes. Then Theater with a Mission pits Cervantes versus Shakespeare in a smackdown for the best version of the Romeo & Juliet story – Shakespeare’s, where both lovers die because their families are feuding, or Lope de Vega’s, where both lovers live because Juliet figures out a way to defuse the feud. The Festival sings its swansong with wise words from Spanish Floridians, and wonderful prizes to take home.
Experience time travel this September. Come to Tallahassee for the Loco for Love Festival, in Railroad Square Art District, September 13-15. Put your personal touch on the journey by visiting www.theaterwithamission.com, where you can help the Festival schedule take shape, see sneak previews of coming attractions, and win free treats from Festival food trucks. ¡Viva la Florida!
