frikiNation
Director
National Queer Theater’s Obie-winning Criminal Queerness Festival | A co-production with HERE Arts Center
Synopsis: frikiNation is a historical, bilingual, Cuban punk rock jukebox musical that tells the true story of young punks in Cuba in the early 1990s who took extreme measures to rig the communist system in their favor. In an attempt to access a higher quality of life within the government sanctioned HIV sanitariums, punks across the island started injecting themselves with HIV-positive blood. Using a 2003 album by Cuban punk band EsKoria, frikiNation tells this powerful history by following a pregnant rebel, her new skeptical lover, and a band of misfit friends as they fight to survive and create music in a society that pushes them to the margins. With the help of Maria, a cultural programs director determined to educate and protect them, they navigate love, freedom, and a dangerous plan to secure a better life—no matter the cost.
Photo by Gavin Strawnatto
Photo by Gavin Strawnatto
Photo by Gavin Strawnatto
Book: Krystal Ortiz
Music & Lyrics: EsKoria
Director: Rula A. Muñoz
Music Director: Alan Mendez
Cast: Adriana Gaviria*, Claudia Quesada, Frances Inés Rodríguez, JoJo Fleites, Marcelo Camacho, Mateo d’Amato, Nico Raimont, Ryan Ruffing
Costume Design: Jasmine Canjura & Jason Goodwin
Lightning Design: Alejandro Maldonado
Scenic & Props Design: Dan Daly
Sound Design: Jeremy Kadetsky
Projection Design: Gavin Strawnatto
Production Stage Manager: Valeria Llaneza
Assistant Stage Manager: Noel Ullom
Dramaturg: Khristián Méndez Aguirre
Production Manager: Dmitri Barcomi
Captions Operator: Phalig
Sound Engineer: Travis
frikiNation was previously developed at a concert reading produced by Rula A. Muñoz and Krystal Ortiz in partnership with The Sol Project, The Movement Theater Company, Musical Theatre Factory, and National Queer Theater presented at Brooklyn Art Haus as part of Carnegie Hall’s Nuestros Sonidos Festival. Presented in National Queer Theater's annual Criminal Queerness Festival in co-production with HERE Arts Center.