INTERVIEW: Elena Hurst discovers the family at the heart of ‘Torera’
Photo: Elena Hurst stars in Torera, a new play at WP Theater. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by Vivacity Media Group with permission.
NEW YORK — The new play Torera, written by Monet Hurst-Mendoza and directed by Tatiana Pandiani, follows a young girl named Elena (Jacqueline Guillén) as she tries to navigate the world of bullfighting in Yucatan, Mexico. Joining her on the journey are her best friend, Tanok (Jared Machado), and her mother, Pastora (Elena Hurst). The relationship between mother and daughter becomes one of the key points of love and friction within the work, which laces together scenes of great drama, intriguing bullfights and family humor.
Torera continues through Sunday, Oct. 26, at the WP Theater in Manhattan.
Hurst, an accomplished actor who appeared in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, came to the show after sending in a self-taped audition. She received a callback and then completed some readings with the other actors. She was so happy to finally get the part.
“I really liked that it takes place in Yucatan in this very specific, beautiful part of Mexico,” Hurst said in a recent phone interview. “Right now we see a lot of narratives of immigration stories or narco stories or these suffering stories in our relationship to this country as Mexicans, and I really love that this is not that at all. This is just a girl following her dreams in this beautiful, specific place, and so that was one of the first things that drew me to it. It’s cool and unusual, a girl bullfighter. I love stories that really take you to another place, whether it’s another time period or another location or just another set of rules of something that we get to experience.”
Hurst, who has performed at the New Ohio Theater and American Repertory Theater, admitted that she didn’t know too much about bullfighting before signing up for Torera, but she found the story being told both rich and compelling. Plus, she identified with the character of Pastora, the mother to Elena.
“I have a 6-year-old, but I also just had a baby,” she said. “I actually auditioned for this when I was two weeks postpartum, and so I was drawn to the mother character and getting a chance to play something like that.”
One of the best parts of this theatrical experience has been working with her fellow castmates at the WP Theater. She said they all get along wonderfully, and they’ve had deep conversations about the themes of the play, whether they were discussions about gender, family, class, cultural traditions or bullfighting itself.
“It is so beautiful,” the actor said. “I mean absolutely, truly one of the most special projects that I’ve been on, just the kismet of how wonderfully we get along. Jorge [Cordova] I had worked with before on a TV show, so I knew him. And that was really great because he’s also a parent, and I was sort of under a lot of stress. And it was great to be able to have somebody that knew me and that I could talk to about that kind of thing.”
Hurst had never worked with Hurst-Mendoza before, but the actor fell in love with the words on the page and knew of the playwright’s reputation. So working with her was a definite plus to joining Torera.
“I’ve known her work, and I really like her,” Hurst said. “I was really excited. That’s another thing actually that drew me to the project was the opportunity to work with Monet. Both the director and writing team during this whole process were just incredible. … You want to perform better when everybody around you is that exceptional. You don’t want to be the weakest link.”
The play is quite the visual production. The actors re-create bullfights on the stage, and there are two dancers who help set the mood and tone. Plus, audience members utilize handkerchiefs to add energy to the performance.
“We have a lot of fun,” Hurst said. “It’s really special to be in an all-Latino cast in New York. I think this is the first time that it’s ever happened to me, so that’s been really fun, too, because there’s sort of a cultural shorthand that you have. I think there’s a lot of chemistry and just love and care for each other.”
When Hurst began on this journey, she had many discussions about the deep themes that can be found in Elena’s journey to become a bullfighter. She is trying to break into a male-dominated workplace, and often her dreams are set aside by others.
“We do so much unpacking of all that work,” Hurst said of the conversations with her castmates. “Then as we’re staging in the rehearsal room, those things will even motivate blocking in ways that are really interesting. I know, for example, I stand at the table and say, ‘You’re growing up, and you’ll have different paths in your life.’ I remember the director suggesting having me go to the corner of the table so that I was really the fork in the road between them and the dining room.”
Hurst added: “I think we definitely unpacked and addressed and talked all the time about that kind of stuff, more so at the beginning stages when we’re working with the text and working on the blocking. Once we get into the theater and it’s tech, there’s not a lot of that work anymore, but it certainly comes up during the run. … There’s definitely still acts of discovery and wonderful conversation and dialogue about all of these themes.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Torera, featuring Elena Hurst, continues through Sunday, Oct. 26, at the WP Theater in Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
