Jessica's Engagements for 2017-2018
Directing
WORKING THE MUSICAL, November 9-19, 2017, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8PM, and Sundays at 2PM
From mtishows.com
Based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the men and women that the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason and the housewife, just to name a few. Nominated for six Tony Awards, this classic has been updated for a modern age, featuring new songs by Tony Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as favorites by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia and James Taylor.
This new 2012 version of Working is a musical exploration of 26 people from all walks of life. While most of the professions have been updated, the strength of the show is in the core truths that transcend specific professions; the key is how people's relationships to their work ultimately reveal key aspects of their humanity, regardless of the trappings of the job itself. The show, still set in contemporary America, contains timeless truths. This new version of Working allows the audience to get a rare glimpse of the actors and technicians, working to put on a show. This raw adaptation only enhances the realistic and relatable nature of the subject matter.
With extremely modest set and orchestra requirements, universal subject matter, and featuring a multi-ethnic ensemble cast of variable size, Working is one of the most accessible, relevant and substantive musicals ever created. The new, revised 2012 version includes updated lyrics, a streamlined book and two new songs.
HOUSE OF DESIRES/Los Empeños de una Casa, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, translated by Catherine Boyle
From the back cover of the RSC edition:
HOUSE OF DESIRES involves a brother ans sister entangled in a web of love with four others. With everyone under one roof, mayhem ensues as all six characters struggle to be alone with their lover and we try to work out who really loves whom.
Written by one of the few female playwrights of the Spanish Golden Age, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a poet nun and is perhaps best known as a major Baroque literary figure of Mexico.
Acting
A new adaptation inspired by MOTHER COURAGE, developed by NACL Theatre. (Work-In-Progress Showing, August 17-20Apple Pond Farms in Callicoon Center, NY and on Governor's Island, NYC, September 22-24, 2017).
Playwrighting/Adaptations
AND THE VIOLINS STOPPED PLAYING, by Alexander Ramati, adapted for the stage by Jessica López-Barkl (workshop production in progress for Summer 2017)
CRISTINA AND FRIDA adapted from the novel FRIDA by Barbara Mujica
I'M NOT CRAZY adapted from the writings of an anonymous woman suffering from late-in-life schizophrenia
Research Paper
LOCKED UP: an exploration of theater behind bars