PRODUCTION ON HOLD
Baseball Dreams
Written by: Ana Menendez
Directed by: Phillip M. Church
Produced by: What if Works
Live Performances:
2020 - TBA
“Baseball Dreams” was first produced at the Seminole Theatre in Homestead in September 2019 specifically to serve as a foundation for the Miami-Dade Literary Stage & Screen Youth Festival. The production will be remounted as part of this proposed event.
This curated stage production explores the world of a nine-year old boy and his irrepressible dream of becoming the DiMaggio of the Cuban National Baseball League. Set in Cuba 1935 and spanning across three decades, Menendez’ complex yet engaging story weaves a path between fact, fiction, and fable underscoring the unintended consequences of what might befall us when our dreams exceed our capacity to contain them. Unlike traditional adaptation that cuts and alters the original material What if Works “dramatic curation” offers a word-for-word staging of the story-as-written, maintaining the integrity of the original narrative while the world of a boy, his dreams and his unanticipated legacy are brought alive through the dramatic curation of literature, theatre, music, movement, video, and imagery. In association with the Miami Dade County Public Schools, Florida International University and Books & Books What if Works sets out to pass on the skill and techniques of short story writing through “Miami-Dade Literary Stage & Screen Youth Festival”. In tandem with the production of “Baseball Dreams” graduates from FIU will visit ten Miami Dade County middle schools to mentor short story writing. Twelve, five-minute short stories will be chosen and distributed to partnering high schools where students in Media Arts and Theater will adapt and produce the stories into six five-minute plays and six five-minute short films. All plays and films representing the twelve participating schools will share the same stage as part of a non-competitive “Literary Stage & Screen Youth Festival” in April 2020. Each participant will receive a framed certificate of accomplishment together with a copy of "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd" and a dedicated book about film and/or theatre.