A university creative writing professor in Minnesota and a student begin a friendship over poetry which continues throughout the next two decades and becomes a romance played out in letters, writings and yes, the poems that mean so much to each one.
It’s December: a love story in the making, by playwright Marisela Treviño Orta, now making its world premiere at Alley Theatre after being developed in the Alley’s All New Festival in 2023. It begins in 1998 and spans 20 years from there to 2018
Patricia Duran is Carolina (the younger) who plays the professor at 40 and 48 years old. Maggie Bofill plays the oldest Carolina (at 60) later in the two act. Opposite Duran is Leandro Salazar as Benjamin (the younger),while Luis Vega plays the older Benjamin. Duran also played Carolina in the 2023 reading.
“It’s definitely a slow burn, romantic, a comedy as well,” Duran says.
The two-act play begins with Carolina throwing a party at the end of the semester, Duran says. Summer is about to start. The title of the play is playing off May-December relationships. And definitely she is the December portion. She builds a bond with one of her students over poetry, over music.
“He’s 20 years younger. He’s is done taking the course with her. But he’s not supposed to do that. It’s not anything plotted or planned. We discover that his character Benjamin wants her to read some of his poetry. She gets to read what he’s written and over the course of the evening they have deep intellectual conversations with each other. They have a shared love of a certain movie, Harold and Maude. So they just form this bond with one another. It’s not anything that’s calculated. It happens. But it’s all innocent to start, of course.”
While both are in Minnesota, they discover that they are both from Texas and they bond over this as well, Duran says.
This is the first time she’s “shared” a character, and she and Bofill are having a good time discussing their character Duran says. “It’s been really fun for both of us to get to watch each other’s work and play off of that. It’s almost like I’m creating a character with another actor with is something I’ve never done before.
“It’s almost like a relay race,” she says in the passage of batons from the youngers to the olders.
Duran is a big fan of playwright Orta’s work. “Marisela wrote one of her more famous pieces called The River Bride. I got to do that over at Stages (2019). I met her back then. These two plays very very different That one was more like magical realism. This one is much more contemporary, realistic.
“[Orta] really gets how people talk, how they speak and what they say and what they don’t say. She’s really good with subtext; she’s really good with creating characters that are honest and truthful. They don’t feel caricature, Duran says. “Her words are easy to say. Doesn’t feel like you’re having to fight the text. She has a knack for how people speak.”
Duran thinks this is the perfect play for audiences at the beginning of a new year.
“It’s a play about embracing life. It’s a play about timing. It’s a play about love, beginnings, possibilities. I think that these are things that we all are hopeful for. It’s really warm and heartfelt. I find this play to be very uplifting.”
Performances are scheduled for January 17 through February 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 7 p.m. Sundays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For more information, call 713-220-5700or visit alleytheatre.org. $38-$100.
