Miami, Nov. 4, 2021- Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Wolfson Campus will present the re-release of Ich Bin Ein Berliner, a hybrid audio play by Vanessa Garcia for two showings at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9, the 32nd Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Garcia will be present for a live post-show Q&A alongside German Consul General Andreas Siegel and Matt Stabile, Producing Artistic Director of Theatre Lab. The event will feature an address by Wolfson Campus President Dr. Beatriz Gonzalez and display an original piece of the Berlin Wall permanently located at the Wolfson Campus. The event is free and open to the public with RSVP.
This event, complete with visuals, animation and live music is hosted in partnership with the German Consulate General in Miami, and Abre Camino Collective (ACC), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Theatre Lab and the Goethe-Zentrum Atlanta.
“This play is significant for our local community and beyond,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “It draws parallels from the erection and destruction of the Berlin Wall to the wall of oppression in Cuba, from the trajectory of global events to the path of personal family history, and from events almost incomprehensible to the human soul to attempt to make such trials have meaning. I’m grateful we have the opportunity to host this play with outstanding partners, as I believe it will inspire reflection and conversation that will draw us closer as global citizens with a shared future.”
Ich Bin Ein Berliner is the true story of Garcia’s deep-dive into why the fall of the Berlin Wall was seared into her soul, as she watched it come crashing down on TV from her fifth-grade classroom in Miami. Led by the undeniable pull of her own Cuban roots, Garcia retraces her relationships to pop-culture, capitalism, Berlin, and her familial history, revealing the true interconnectivity of the world and the urgent need to share that truth, as Cuba itself dreams of a future unimaginable for the past six decades.
“This play is particularly important now as Cuba is facing its very own Berlin Wall,” said Garcia. “When I wrote the play, I felt this was coming soon. Then July 11 hit, and the people of Cuba took to the streets to ask for freedom, much like they did in Berlin in 1989. Now, more than ever, we must understand the connections between those two places and what it means to break down walls.”
Garcia is a multidisciplinary writer and creator working as a screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and journalist. She has written for Sesame Street, Caillou and is a consultant on Dora the Explorer. Her debut novel White Light was published in 2015 to critical acclaim. Named one of the “Best Books of 2015” by NPR, it also won an International Latino Book Award. She currently hosts a family podcast, Never The Empty Nest with her mother and sister. Her plays have been produced in Edinburgh, Miami, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities around the world and include the immersive hit, The Amparo Experience. As a journalist, feature writer and essayist, her pieces have appeared in The LA Times, The Miami Herald, The Guardian, The Washington Post, American Theatre Magazine, The Huffington Post, ESPN and numerous other publications. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California Irvine in English, an M.F.A. from the University of Miami and a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University.
“I’m particularly delighted about the collaboration with MDC, Wolfson Campus as we are building a tradition of celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall together,” said Consul General Andreas Siegel. “With an original piece of the Berlin Wall on display on its campus, who could be a better host for the audio play Ich Bin Ein Berliner on the occasion of the fall of the Wall 32 years ago.”
To RSVP for this event, please contact Yesenia Sanabria, ysanabri@mdc.edu, 305-237-3310.
For more information about Vanessa Garcia, visit www.vanessagarcia.org / follow on Instagram @vanessagarciawriter.
WHAT: MDC Wolfson Campus Presents Ich Bin Ein Berliner on 32nd Anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
WHERE: Wolfson Campus, MDC Live Arts Theater, Room 1101, 300 NE 2nd Ave.
Media Contact: Kristia Watkins, Tropical Agency, kristia@thetropicalagency.com