Eastern Student Julia Leitao Opens New Theatre with "Pedro, The Great Pretender"

2016 Nov 28

Julia Leitao '18, an Eastern Connecticut State University student from New Britain, helped christen the brand new Proscenium Theatre with an inaugural performance of "Cervante's Pedro, The Great Pretender." The historic occasion -- the first major production of the Theatre Program to occur in that venue -- took place within Eastern's new Fine Arts Instructional Center from Nov. 8 to 13.

The classic play by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, follows the tricks of Pedro, a master pretender whose escapades involve him with a slew of characters and careers as he struggles to find his true vocation in life.

Leitao majors in Early Childhood Education and Theatre with a concentration in Acting. In "Pedro," Leitao played Lagartija.

"Our first production in our new Proscenium Theatre hopes to honor Cervantes' timeless subversive satire by connecting the centuries of his day and ours," said Ellen Faith Brodie, director and theatre professor at Eastern. "The costumes evoke the Spanish Golden Age paintings of Velasquez and his contemporaries. The scenic design was inspired by the 20th-century Spanish artist Jean Miro.

"Cervantes lives on in Pedro and we live on through the hopes and dreams of both the author and his creations," continued Brodie. "We are all Pedro: pretenders in many costumes wearing many masks and dreaming of a better life and a better world."

At Eastern, Leitao has also performed in "Phoenix New Plays Series," "Shorts 2016 - 'Ebol-A-Rama'" and "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland."