¡Bienvenidos Blancos! or Welcome White People!
¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE! is a bilingual theatrical production that explores the role of “whiteness” and identity in the contemporary Cuban and Cuban-American experience. Produced by Philadelphia-based theater company Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, and created through a multi-year collaboration between Cuban and American artists, BIENVENIDOS explores the impact that Cuba’s racial, economic, and political history has had on the lives of its people on and off the island. BIENVENIDOS attempts to capture the particularities of this impact, touching on themes of survival, immigration, and the diasporic experience, looking towards the past to understand the complexities of the present.
Created by the ensemble, produced by Team Sunshine Performance
Performance History
2020. Swarthmore College
2018. FringeArts*
*Recipient of 6 Barrymore Nominations, including Best New Play
2020 Team
Director, Lead Artist Alex Torra
Assistant Director Rachel Camp
Choreographer Makoto Hirano
Performer/Creators Jorge Enrique Caballero Elizarde, Benjamin Camp, Lori Felipe Barkin, Jenna Horton, Cheryl Zaldivar Jimenez
Producer Benjamin Camp
Production Manager Robin Stamey
Technical Director Scott Cassidy
Set Designer Efren Delgadillo Jr.
Set Design Assistant Andrea Corona
Costume Designer Fabian Fidel Aguilar
Costume Assistant Natalia de la Torre
Lighting Designer Oona Curley
Lighting Assistant Abby Schlackman
Sound Co-Designer Anthony Martinez-Briggs
Sound Co-Designer/Engineer Chris Sannino
Props Designer Alicia Crosby
Supertitles Coordinator/Operator Paloma Irizarry
Operations Manager Phoebe Schaub
Stage Manager Emily Schuman
Photos by Johanna Austin (2-5, 8-9, 11-13)
2018 Team (Premiere)
Director/Lead Artist Alex Torra
Assistant Director Cheryl Zaldívar Jiménez
Choreographer Makoto Hirano
Performer/Creators Jorge Enrique Caballero Elizarde, Benjamin Camp, Lori Felipe Barkin, Idalmis Garcia Rodriguez, Jenna Horton
Live Music Performers TIMBALONA
Project Manager Sara Nye
Production Manager Robin Stamey
Stage Manager Emily Schuman
Set Designer Efren Delgadillo Jr.
Costume Designer Fabian Fidel Aguilar
Lighting Designer Oona Curley
Sound Designer Anthony Martinez-Briggs
Props Designer Alicia Crosby
Supertitles Coordinator/Operator Paloma Irizarry
Technical Direction Flannel & Hammer Scene Shop
Sound Engineer Chris Sannino
Assistant Lighting Designer Abby Schlackman
Scenic Charge Anthony Wiegand
Photographer Kate Raines, Plate3 Photography
Video Producer Danielle Gatto
Community Liaison Marángeli Mejía Rabell
Talent Booking Agency AfroTaino Productions
Dramaturg/Online Resource Manager Linnea Carlson deRoche
Workshop Supertitles Designer Les Rivera
Photos by Kate Raines/Plate 3 Photography (1, 6-7, 10, 14-15)
Support
BIENVENIDOS was developed at Teatro Ludi (Havana auditions); Swarthmore Project in Theater, Swarthmore College; Taller Puertorriqueño; and FringeArts. Major support was provided by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the William J. Cooper Foundation and Swarthmore’s Department of Theater, the Wyncote Foundation, the Network of Ensemble Theaters, and the Puffin Foundation, as well as the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Southwest Airlines, and the Surdna Foundation through a grant from the NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant Program.