Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater
Reading of “To Experience Encanto Negro” by Oriana Nelson ’25
Run Time
90 minutes, no intermission
Content Advisories
The reading contains hate speech and offensive language, along with references to colorism, racism, and colonialism.
Cast
Alana: Oriana Nelson ’25*
Destiny: Nicole Ndayishimiye ’27
Gabriel: Miel Escamilla ’26*
Valeria, Miss Charles, Ensemble 1: Eva-Labelle Kenmoe ’27
Narrator, Ensemble 3: Aleigha Reynolds ’25
Ricardo, Ensemble 2: Matthew Okechukwu ’27
Production Team
Director: Oriana Nelson ’25*
Stage Manager: Nadine Allache ’26*
*denotes a student minoring in the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Faculty Advisors
Brian Herrera, Faculty Project Mentor
Nathan Davis, Faculty Advisor—Playwriting
Alberto Bruzos Moro, Department Advisor—Department of Spanish & Portuguese
Special Notes
Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Accessibility
The Drapkin Studio is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations.
A Note from the Project Proposer
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my interviewees for their vulnerability and commitment to this project. Their stories have opened my mind in a way I didn’t think was imaginable. As cliche as that sounds, there truly is a powerful difference between reading from a book and learning directly from the source, listening to their memories and their anecdotes. I’m very grateful to them. I’d also like to thank my advisors, Nathan Davis, Alberto Bruzos Moro, and Brian Herrera, who have been an amazing support system as I navigated this project. I’d be remiss not to thank the LCA staff and faculty who made this all possible, especially Jane Cox. Lastly, I’d like to thank my cast for their flexibility, passion, and constructive feedback.
— Oriana Nelson
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information about ways you can engage with and support the Indigenous community on campus please visit the website of Native American and Indigenous studies (NAI), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater and Music Theater: Jane Cox
View a list of Program in Theater & Music Theater faculty & guest artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a list of LCA Supporters
