In a place so remote It's almost magical, a woman - on the edge of life's longest journey - wishes to revisit her Greatest Love. Her wish is granted, she reconciles her love and her life, re-entering the irreverence of love lost through distance and years.

Written in 1997, Venecia is a delightful light comedy centered around Gringa, an elderly 'lady of the night', whose greatest desire is to visit, and ask for forgiveness of, her one-time lover, Giacomo, in the Venice he described to her years and years ago. But the Working Girls living in Jujuy with Gringa lack the funds to take her to Venice, and so concoct an elaborate ruse to make her think she is there. Does the hoax backfire, or is that really Giacomo come back from the distant past? Either way, Venecia will bring tears to the eyes, both through laughter and affection.

Author

Jorge Accáme was born in Buenos Aires in 1956. Since 1982 he’s been located in Jujuy, Argentina. Writer and professor, Liberal Arts graduate, he teaches secondary school and is a staff member at the University. Among his writings are: Punk and Circus; Golja (poetry); Day of the Fish; Who Asked for a Glass of Water?; Mountain Quartet; The Jaguar; The Best Theme of the ‘70s; and Diary of an Explorer (short stories). His plays include: Little Street Birds; House of Rock; Chingoil Compani; Suriman Attacks and Venice. The first three plays were produced through the Grupo Jujeño de Teatro, while Venice (which won the Florencio Sánchez prize) has won extraordinary acclaim both in Argentina and in the outside world.

Directed by

MARIO MARCEL is Argentine.  With more than 50 years dedicated to acting, theater education, and directing, in Europe, South America and the United States, Mr. Marcel has participated in well over 200 productions, and has held official positions within the cultural world as well.  In 1984 Marcel arrived in Washington DC, where he has worked with the Centro de Arte, Centro de la Juventud Latinoamericana, and the OAS Grupo Panamericano.  After joining the ranks of GALA as actor, Marcel represented the United States at international festivals both within and outside the United States. In 1991 Mr. Marcel co-founded Teatro de la Luna, serving as director of its Workshops for Actors and Technicians, bringing to the stage, and adapting universal and contemporary repertory works.  In 1994 he returned to GALA, without abandoning TEATRO DE LA LUNA, and represented the US once again at the International Theater Festival in El Salvador, acting with Hugo Medrano in Airplanes by C. Gorostiza, which was later added to GALA’s permanent repertoire.  He has appeared many times in the Latino Affairs Office’s “Linea Directa” television program.  Presently Mr. Marcel is developing TEATRO DE LA LUNA’s EXPERIENCE THEATER program in schools throughout the area.  In 1999, along with Nucky Walder, Mr. Marcel won the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington’s Tony Taylor Award.

Selected Awards and Nominations for Venice

Awarded the José Maria Vilches prize for best dramatic play for 2001 season, Mar del Plata, 2001.

Awarded the Estrella de Mar prize for best dramatic play for 2001 season, Mar del Plata, 2001.

Selected play to participate in International Festival of Buenos Aires, 1999.

Awarded the Florencio Sánchez prize from the Casa del Teatro, for best theatrical author, 1998 production.

Awarded the Revista Teatro XXI prize, GETEA, as best Argentine play, 1998.

Nominated for the Trinidad Guevara prize for best Argentine play, 1998 production.

Selected by Argentina to participate in the International Theater Festival in Mar del Plata, 1998.

Nominated for A.C.E. prize for theatrical production, 1998.

First showcased in Buenos Aires as a semi-staged production in June 1997, it was translated into English and presented as readers’ theater in Portland, Maine by the Portland Stage Company Theater and in New York by the New York Theater Workshop in October 1997.

In 1998, it opened at the Teatro del Pueblo in Buenos Aires, Argentina under the direction of Helena Tritek.

In 1999 it moved to the Teatro Payró and to the the Teatro Broadway in 2002. It has also been staged in Tucamán, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Santiago del Estero, Mendoza, Río Negro. Chubut, Santa Fe, Santa Cruz, Saklta, Misiones, Corrientes, San Luis, Jujuy, La Pampa. And Formosa – all cities in Argentina.

Outside Argentina, productions have taken place in 1999 in Montevideo, Uruguay (directed by Carlos Aguilera); New York (dir. Ignacio Spadavecchia); Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia (dir. Mario Morgan).

In 2000, the play was seen in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (dir. René Hohenheim), London (dir. Rebecca Gatward) and in Santiago, Chile (dir. Boris Quercia).

2001 brought productions in Mexico City (dir. Francisco Franco); Montreal (dir. Guillermo D’Andrea) and New Brunswick, New Jersey (dir. Arthur Laurents).

In 2002, there were productions in Lima, Peru (dir. Osvaldo Cattone) and Kranj, Eslovenia (dir. Omar Viale).

Productions in 2003 included Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon (dir. Falabella) and Madrid (dir. Helena Tritek).

In 2004 Venecia was seen in Paris (dir. Jorge Lavelli).