KINGSTON, R.I.-August 25, 1999 –Teatro Latino Estudiantil, a theater group composed of Hispanics, Cape Verdeans, Anglos, and African-Americans, will hold open auditions for its new play, Aquí, contigo (Here, With You), on Monday, September 13 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the University of Rhode Island’s Quinn Auditorium on the Kingston Campus. The group needs actors, musicians, dancers, and stage workers. Aquí, contigo, written and directed by Resurrección Espinosa of New London, Conn., is the third installment of a trilogy of Luis Espejo, a fictional character living in South Providence. The first two plays, the Courtship of Luis Espejo and The Importance of Being Macho dealt with Luis’s marriage to an Anglo woman, the turmoil the marriage caused within his family, and his efforts setting up an idealistic social center, called La Rama de Olivo, in his neighborhood of South Providence. Aquí, contigo addresses questions raised in the first two plays and explores the way that La Rama de Olivo is different from the existing social structure in Luis’s neighborhood and how Luis and his friends make it work. The bilingual plays are formed by various stories being told simultaneously. Aquí, contigo delves into the character’s emotional and political lives and looks into problems, such as drug addiction and broken families, in an examination of elements within a culture that do and do not nurture growth and survival. This spring, Teatro Latino Estudiantil will sponsor a contest for short plays with Hispanic and African-American themes. A staged reading will be done for each of the four chosen plays. Any Rhode Islander who is at least 17 years old may enter the contest. Guidelines will be published at the end of the fall semester. For more information, write to: Teatro Latino Estudiantil, 305 Memorial Union, URI, Kingston 02881. -x-x-x- For More Information: Jan Sawyer, 401-874-2116