“La Cucarachita Martina” (The Little Cockroach Martina) adapted by Carlos-Manuel is a Spanish folktale that has been passed on from generations in Latinx households. The story is about a little cockroach who meets a little mouse, create a friendship over their love of books and reading. The story takes multiple twists and turns which keeps children riveted to their seats to find out what happens at the end.
This adaptation emphasis values like friendship, sacrifice, inner beauty versus outer beauty, budgeting, kindness, reading, and writing.
The play is bilingual, but don’t worry, if something is said in Spanish, it is repeated again in English. No need for subtitles.
Teatro Tercera Llamada brings bilingual children’s theatre every summer at many of Louisville’s Free Public Libraries.
Parents will delight in the story as well. The book is available at the Louisville Free Public Library.
Once inside the Vimeo page the password to see the play is the following: TtL2020.
To see the production, scroll down to the bottom and click on the title of the play.
“La Cucarachita Martina” adaptada por Carlos-Manuel es un cuento popular español que ha pasado de generaciones en hogares latinos. La historia es sobre una cucaracha que conoce a un ratoncito, crea una amistad sobre su amor por los libros y la lectura. La historia toma múltiples giros y vueltas que mantiene a los niños remachados a sus asientos para averiguar lo que sucede al final.
Esta adaptación se centra en valores como la amistad, el sacrificio, la belleza interior frente a la belleza exterior, el presupuesto, la bondad, la lectura y la escritura.
La obra es bilingüe, pero no te preocupes, si algo se dice en español, se repite de nuevo en inglés. No hay necesidad de subtítulos.
Teatro Tercera Llamada ofrece teatro infantil bilingüe todos los veranos en muchas de las Bibliotecas Públicas Gratuitas de Louisville.
Los padres también se deleitarán con la historia. El libro está disponible en la Bibliotecas Pública de Louisville.
Cuando entren a la página de Vimeo la contraseña para ver la reproducción es la siguiente: TtL2020.
Para ver la obra, haz click en el título:
LA CUCARACHITA MARTINA de Carlos-Manuel
Actors and Production
Jay Marie Padilla: Cucarachita Martina
Joe Monroe: Ratoncito Peña
Hannah Connelly: Narrator, Toro Tito
Yudith Gonzalez: Narrator, Make-up Seller, and Doctor
Liz Benitez: Narrator and Candy Seller
Daniel Smith: Narrator, King, and Royal Doctor
Isabel Villa: Dress Seller and Queen
Directed by: Haydee Canovas and Jay Marie Padilla
Props Manager: Xenia Miller
Videography: Roxell Karr
Now that you have watched the play, we invite you to do the following activity:
Y ahora que haz visto la obra, te invitamos a que participes con la siguiente actividad:
- Name of Activity: Bilingual Children’s Play, La Cucarachita Martina de Carlos-Manuel
- Ages Appropriate: 3-11
- Arts & Culture Disciplines: Theatrical Performance and Library
- Description of Program: Bilingual children’s play based on the library book of the same name with a twist. A story about friendship, sacrifice, budgeting, inner beauty versus outer beauty, patience, reading, and writing.
Assignment: Take 30 minutes to write a play with three characters. Identify the location of the story. Make the three characters animals you would find in your back yard or garden. Have your characters talk about a problem they have in their habitat. Identify who is speaking by placing their name over their dialogue.