SO WHAT IF I LOVED YOU (SWIILY)
A one-woman show by Summer Dawn Hortillosa
WHEN: Thursday through Saturday, August 21-23, at 8 PM and Sunday, August 24, at 7 PM
WHERE: Merseles Studios, 339-345 Newark Ave., Jersey City
TICKETS: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
Opening night—August 21st—will include an opening reception and a multimedia art show in the Merseles Studios Gallery, featuring local visual artists. All the art showcased in this special exhibition will reflect the themes of love, loss and romance as presented in So What If I Loved You. Reception and gallery opens at 6 p.m., light refreshments will be served and admission is included in the ticket price to So What If I Loved You.
Get your tickets now! http://sowhatifilovedyou.brownpapertickets.com
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n SWIILY, Hortillosa (right) portrays a young woman haunted by post-breakup memories of a lost lover. Unable to sleep, she remembers various incarnations of this man and their time together through two monologues and an original song. This multi-media journey through love and loss incorporates video, music and movement. Audiences will be engaged by Hortillosa’s sharp wit, and contemporary rhythm and poetry as well as her constant shifts in tempo and feeling—quirky to hilarious, sassy then painful, touching and tragic. Audiences accompany her on an emotional roller coaster ride, led by a romantic imagination filled with revelation. SWIILY keeps it real. (visit: www.SoWhatIfILovedYou.com)
So What If I Loved You was inspired by my experiences in the Millennial dating society—we're all endlessly hopeful and romantic, yet dishonest and cruel to each other,” said Hortillosa. “We end up spending sleepless night after sleepless night wondering where it all went wrong and what we could've done differently. SWIILY is a revamped twist on an old tale – this is the story of star-crossed lovers, told by the one left standing, unhappily alone.”
SWIILY, written and performed by Hortillosa, is produced by 68 Productions (68P), a theater company founded in 2012 by Hortillosa and director Liliane Wolf. The 68P team includes director of photography Alex Pergament, video editor and music video director DeukYun Hwang, set designer and actor Luke Koty and others.
Hortillosa, 24 years old, was born in Fort Polk, Louisiana and raised in Jersey City. She considers herself a Jersey Girl. The Asian-American playwright, director and actress burst onto the scene in 2012 with “Secrets; Love,” a finalist in the Downtown Urban Theater Festival in New York City, and is best known for Kookspeak, her comedic one-woman show that toured regional festivals from 2012-2014. An except of SWIILY was performed at Personal & Universal, the opening of Merseles Studios held in April.
SWIILY is Hortillosa’s first stand-alone, one-woman showcase, i.e., a performance unrelated to a festival or other multi-performance format. For JCTC, giving this important new talent her first solo-spotlight exemplifies its mission of creating a community-based, Theater & Arts Complex in Downtown Jersey City.
“JCTC is committed to giving new talent a stage, especially at Merseles Studios Theater, which is intended to also be a laboratory for new ideas and experimentation,” said Olga Levina, Artistic Director, JCTC. “We are excited to present Summer Dawn Hortillosa in her first, standalone, one-woman theatrical production. She has a unique world-view and is an exceptional writer, actress and performer. Summer is a rising talent in the Hudson County theater scene. Audiences will discover a thought-provoking, fresh voice.”
Perhaps in keeping with the neighborhood spirit inherent in JCTC, SWIILY’s gestation benefited from community support. Hortillosa launched a Kickstarter that reached its $1,500 goal only halfway through its month-long campaign. The community rallied behind her, pushing the crowd-funding campaign way over its goal, ending at $2,342.
In addition, Hortillosa own story is one of exceeding expectations and overcoming the odds with a distinctive self determination and unyielding commitment to her art. “You have to make your own opportunities,” said Hortillosa. “I grew up with a single mother who was chronically ill. I was beginning to think that maybe I wasn’t meant to write plays or be involved in theater at all. I realized that I needed to make my dreams happen. I wasn’t going to just give up. Jersey City’s grown because we are industrious. We make things happen.”
