Name: Matt Barbot
What is your current project?
A production of my play, El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom
Where are you performing it and why is it the right fit for your piece?
It’s an honor to bring this play, which is so much about cultural identity and struggling to find a place, to the Julia de Burgos Art Center. The center is named for the Puerto Rican poet, and is located in East Harlem, a historic center of Nuyorican culture.
What’s next for you?
Working on my thesis for Columbia School of the Arts with my mentor, Kristoffer Diaz.
Who is your biggest inspiration right at this moment and why?
My biggest inspiration right in this moment is the cast and crew of this show. As a playwright, it’s always humbling to see a whole team of great artists come together to bring my story to life. Aside from that, I’ve been catching up on reading Maria Irene Fornés.
Want More?
Twitter: @BarbotRobot
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1787094418202844/
Matt Barbot is a writer and actor from Brooklyn, NY. He began telling stories before he could write, drawing pictures of new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle adventures. His plays have been performed in New York, Miami, LA, and Pennsylvania. El Coquí Espectácular and the Bottle of Doom was a finalist in the 2014 Repertorio Español Nuestras Voces competition, was workshopped at The Brick’s 2014 Comic Book Theater Festival, and read as part of the 2016 Crossing Borders Festival at Two River Theater; it will soon be performed at the Julia De Burgos Performing Arts Center, funded in part by the 2016 Kevin Spacey Foundation Artist of Choice Award in US Theater. Infallibility was produced as part of the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival, and has been published online at Indie Theater Now in the Best of Fringe NYC 2013 collection. His short play A List of Some Shit I’ve Killed will soon be published by Stage Rights as part of Red Bull Theater Shorts Volume III. During his time at Latino cultural website Remezcla, Matt created the web series Bodega Chat, and wrote the the branded short The Perfect Play, starring Victor Cruz of the New York Giants. Matt is currently pursuing his MFA in playwriting at Columbia University, where he writes stories about stories. His upcoming thesis play will be mentored by Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity).
Show information (venue, dates, ticket info)
El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom
by Matt Barbot
Directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III
The Julia de Burgos Art Center
680 Lexington Ave
(6 train to 103rd)
Thursday, November 3th, 8PM
Friday, November 4th, 8PM
Saturday, November 5th, 8PM
Sunday, November 6th, 3:00PM
Thursday, November 10th, 8PM
Friday, November 11th, 8PM
Saturday, November 12th, 8PM
Sunday, November 13th, 3PM
EL COQUÍ ESPECTACULAR AND THE BOTTLE OF DOOM tells the story of Alex, a comic book artist whose ideas might be “too Puerto Rican,” has begun secretly dressing up as his creation: El Coquí Espectacular, defender of Nuyoricans in all five boroughs! When his brother Joe risks being fired from a project for not being Puerto Rican enough, the two, with the help of a young photographer named Yesica, hatch a plan: to debut El Coquí at the Puerto Rican Day Parade and prove themselves to the world. El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom examines the ways in which we define our heritage and ourselves.
Presented by
Hispanic Federation
Kevin Spacey Foundation
La Vega Management, LLC
Duende Arts, Inc.
Tickets FREE. Reserve at
http://www.lavegamanagement.com/productions
Malini Singh mcdonald 