THE ORPHANS
Written, produced by Karina Casiano for La Criatura Theater
Co-directed and performed with Daniel Irizarry
Original idea by Karina Casiano and Jorge Dieppa
Presented by La MaMa E.T.C.
New York:
December 2nd to 12th, 2010, La MaMa E.T.C.
June 9-13, 2011, Connelly Theater, 5th Teatro StageFest
Brazil:
September 1 and 2, 2011, SESC Belenzinho, Sao Paulo, 1st LITFNY/SESC Partnership
Backstage said:
“Karina Casiano wears a lot of hats here… but she also has the chops and clarity of vision to pull it off.”
“An unusual blend of physical theater, science fiction, and political parable... 'The Orphans' twists the formula”.
“…everything significant is conveyed through graceful, stylized and seemingly gravity-defying movement.”
(Read the whole review by A.J. Mell HERE.)
The New York Theater Review said:
“The story is told through death-defying contact improvisation with walls, set pieces, and finally each other.”
“Both performers' stunning and minutely-specific physical control is consistent and equally impressive throughout the performance.”
(Read the whole review by J. Christoperson HERE.)
Photo by Carla Noriega.
ROOTLESS: 
La No-Nostalgia
By Karina Casiano
New York:
- April 2008, chashama @ 42nd St.
- October 2008, Gerald W. Lynch Theater, CUNY John Jay College
- May 2010, 7th Annual soloNOVA Arts Festival, P.S.122
Mexico City:
July 2010, VIII Festival Internacional de Cabaret, Teatro El Vicio and Foro A Poco No.
"Casiano's beautiful and powerful singing voice makes the heartbreaking moments in 'Rootless' all the more affecting. Moving."
Dan Lehman, Backstage Blogs. Read full article FULL ARTICLE
"Casiano is... talented and gutsy... Expressive performances of the songs."
Martin Denton, nytheater.com Blog.
"Karina’s 'Rootless' is ingenious and daring. The lyrics to the songs, her movements, her commentary and even the wardrobe are fantastic. We were very impressed.”
Maite Junco
Susan Baum, The Personal Trainer for the Voice
“'Rootless: La No-Nostalgia' was marvelous! Spendid! So well-built, so well conceived. We were much moved. She has depicted a synthesis of all of us. We were marveled by the ease with which she interpreted several different styles of songs, the accents, her stage presence, her power, her creativity. Casiano is an all-inclusive artist and deserves to perform on great stages. Absolute professionalism. Chapeaux.”
“' Rootless: La No-Nostalgia' is brilliant, inspirational, moving, thought-provoking, educational, unforgettable, poignant, engaging, and thoroughly entertaining.
“Karina is an incredible singer, writer and performer. She really blew me away with her work. 'Rootless: La No-Nostalgia' challenged and moved me in so many ways - I'm still thinking about it. Karina didn't play it safe for a second. She goes way out of ‘the comfort zone.’ There is an extraordinary amount of creativity, fearlessness, love and thoughtfulness invested in the show. She certainly raises the bar. Karina’s work is inspiring.”
Dana Jacks, Actress
“She managed to turn what I feel deep, deep inside, inside my emigrée heart into art. BRAVA!”
“It was a stupendous evening. I shed a tear or two, I laughed, and it made me think. And Karina is a goddess!”
Maruxa Relaño, Journalist
Photos by Marius Chira.
¿Qué me trajiste?:Cabaret Boricua
By Karina Casiano
Puerto Rico: May and June 1999, San Juan
Cuba: January 2000, Café-Teatro Delirio
Habanero, Teatro Nacional, Havana
South American Tour (Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina:) January - May 2001
"'¿Qué me trajiste?', a happy marriage of brains and entertainment, is really good theater."
Albor Ruiz, The Daily News, New York, September 23, 2003
"Karina Casiano has charisma. (She) knows how to move the audience to silence, to tears, to bittersweet laughter... and makes us accomplices of what happens on stage. A beautiful show full of intelligent resources and moments of humor and tension, '¿Qué me trajiste?' is a show worthy to be seen."
Paúl Rivas, El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador, January 28, 2001
"('¿Qué me trajiste?' has) a very well thought out structure... (It is) a witty proposal because it does not deal with the subject of exile in a sensationalist manner... Karina Casiano will certainly get very far."
Genoveva Mora, La Hora, Quito, Ecuador, February 11, 2001
Photo by Edwin Rivera.
COLONIA2007
o el cabaret de los días terribles
By Karina Casiano
Puerto Rico: November 2000, San Juan
Ecuador: February 2001, Teatro Malayerba, Quito, and Casa de la Cultura, Ibarra
New York: 2004, HERE Arts Center (TALR Festival)
"An iconoclastic actress."
Mario Alegre Barrios, El Nuevo Día, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 21, 2000
"[Karina Casiano is] a restless actress who uses her talent to approach the social issues we share in our country. 'Colonia 2007' offers a sample of alternative artistic creation with a high social content."
Hiram Guadalupe Pérez, Primer Hora, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 24, 2000
Photo by David Rubio.
Colectivo C-4's
DÍA UNO ...Eve of the Beheading
By Jorge Díaz
Puerto Rico: Festival de Teatro de Caguas, Teatro Arcelay, 1999
Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, 2000
Cuba: Festival de Teatro de La Habana, 2000
"From her twisted toes to her moribund embittered mask of a face, her stony voice and her skillful use of her wheelchair, Karina Casiano – as the nearly catatonic Hosanna– inspires the rest of the production. It's been long since I have seen such strong and precise acting on stage."
Lowell Fiet, Claridad, San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 15 - 21, 2000
Photo by Colectivo C-4.
La Criatura Theatre'sSilence Is Health /
Silencio es Salud
By Karina Casiano
New York: February 2006, CSV Cultural Center, Lower
East Side
June 2006, chashama @ Queens, old Citibank
Building, Long Island City
www.lacriatura.org
"An excellent idea and a magnificent staging! I could not imagine why you would want the audience to move, but seeing the play, I realized why. It was perfect! Congratulations! Keep going. You have a whole lot more to offer. "
Rodolfo Queebleen, Playwright and Editor, Hora Hispana Magazine, The Daily News
"Everything -the performances, the staging and the direction- was powerful and moving. I was engaged by it every single moment. Thrilling! It is evident that many people worked hard to make it possible, and it's really inspiring to see innovative and thought-provoking work by people from our generation."
José Antonio Cruz Director of Audience Development & Public Relations, Spanish Repertory Theater, New York
"I enjoyed the performances as well as the overall theme of the piece. The issue of government-sponsored torture, the definition and even the purpose of torture are all problems that have not gotten adequate discussion in the U.S. The location is great. I am glad to see that building used in such an interesting way. I enjoyed 'Silence is Health' and look forward to your next effort."
Peter Neddo, Filmmaker
Eva Vásquez, Playwright and Scholar, CUNY
Photo by Abel Ramírez.
The Dog in the Manger
By Lope de Vega
Directed by Isabel Ramos
Spanish Repertory Theater, New York
New York ACE 2005 Nominee "Best Comedy Actress"
"Karina Casiano plays Diana, Countess of Belflor, as a spoiled, capricious adolescent. She wears too many pink bows in her hair, a pink strapless prom dress, furry burnt orange mufflers on her
forearms, and two large white coffee cans strapped to her ballet slippers so that her feet never touch the ground. When she is not sitting on her high throne, she clomps around the stage with surprising elegance, towering over her subjects. The streamlined eight-member cast makes Lope's language their own; they trip out his rhythms and meters naturally, easily, and at a lively pace."
Prof. Christopher D. Gascón, Comedia Performance Journal, Association for Hispanic Classical Theater, December 2004, SUNY, Cortland, New York
Photo by Michael Palma.
MedeaAmuralladaBy Euripides
Directed by Isabel Ramos
San Felipe del Morro Fort, San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 2005
"Karina Casiano’s histrionic quality is noteworthy. She effectively gave life to the multiplicity of Medea’s feelings: hate, love, rancor, uncertainty, wrath and sorrow."
Javier Del Valle, El Vocero de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Aug. 11, 2005
[Casiano] gave Medea all the frenzy, and sometimes the lack of judgment that a woman betrayed after ten years of happy marriage can express... The moments when she struggles between her love for her children and her decision to restore her honor through vengeance, are adequately intense."
Tatiana Pérez Rivera, El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico, Aug.11 and 14, 2005
Photo by Primera Hora.
PROCESSION
By Badal Sircar
Directed by Rosa Luisa Márquez
University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras
March 1998
"Márquez has used this reality (of downtown Río Piedras) as a starting point and proceeds to show us the difficulties of a character named Khoka. It seems this character could be played either as male or female. In the performance I attended it was played by the tireless, vibrant, acrobatic, supple and beautiful Karina Casiano."
Jorge Martínez Solá, The San Juan Star, Puerto Rico, March 11, 1998
Photo by Miguel Villafañe.
Copyright Karina Casiano 2003-2013. All rights reserved.