Yarani Del Valle shares her thoughts on the creative process. Her responses are in both English and Spanish, similar to the style of Aloha Boricua.

Who do you play onstage?: Pura Pérez, a twenty-something year old woman that just got married to a sugar cane worker.

How does your character’s migration journey compare to your own? Things in Puerto Rico circa 1800 are very harsh. Pura is convinced by her husband that going to Hawaii is the opportunity of a lifetime. They’ve been promised a better life. Pura accepts the challenge but is not so convinced that everything is going to be so pretty and beautiful over there. I relate to my character in the way that going to another country is the only way to seek a better future. I too had my doubts that coming to New York was going to be fairy tale story, I knew I would have to work hard, and sometimes even suffer, to get where I wanted to. Even though I relate to Pura, the reality is, the Puerto Rico of the 21 century I came from can not be compared to the Puerto Rico of the 1800′s where poverty and misery was the norm.

What is your family migration story? My mother and father came to New York in 1973. My mother came to study her masters degree while my father came to work as a union organizer. They got married here and had their first two daughters. Thinking they wanted to raise us in their native country they decided to move back to Puerto Rico. Years later, facing the same migration challenges,I decided to move back to where my mother and father spent their early years building a family.

What have you learned from the characters you portray during the play? A veces quisiera tener la determinación y fuerza de Pura para enfrentar momentos de mi vida.

What was the biggest surprise/historical fact you came across during the creation of the play? El hecho de que a estas personas se les tratara com esclavos y que les suministraran comida putrefacta durante los viajes en mar me dio mucha pena. Fue un momento epifánico cuando comprendí realmente que en Hawaii existe un pedacito de Puerto Rico, un pedacito que anhela adherirse al rompecabezas y que desea ser contado como parte de la historia de nuestro país.

What is your favorite moment and why? Cuando la tripuación se arma de valor y por causa de la indignación ante el trato que les han dado deciden revelarse en contra del capitán del barco. Ese momento me emociona porque pienso en todos los movimientos sociales que han hecho que todos gocemos ahora de muchos derechos. Ese momento me hace tener fe en la capacidad del ser humano por luchar hacia la justicia.

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