Story
Set in 1980's Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY--A spunky Latina must find her own path as she comes of age to face the grim realities of the musician father she once idolized and the deteriorating neighborhood she calls home.
Based on an award-winning, autobiographical novel and Off Broadway stageplay.
Set in the 1980's and told in a series of vignettes, Brownsville Bred tells the coming-of-age journey of Elaine--a spunky young girl living with her Mom, Dad, and three half-siblings as one of the only Puerto Rican families in the welfare projects of Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York.
Her best friends are her intellectually disabled aunt, Elizabeth, and her musically gifted, salsa-loving father, Manny. Through Elaine's young eyes, life is perfect...But everything comes crashing down when Elaine discovers her father is a struggling with addiction. Manny leaves to rehabilitate in his hometown of Puerto Rico.
In the absence of her father, Elaine enters her rebellious teenage years and comes face-to-face with the many pitfalls of generational poverty in her increasingly deteriorating neighborhood. Her actions have dangerous consequences. Fearing for the road ahead, Elaine's mother, Carmen, sends her to visit with her estranged father in Puerto Rico, where Manny (now rehabilitated) will try desperately to make up for their five lost years. Elaine will come to understand her father's Puerto Rican pride and learn to trust again.
But just as she does, she will suspect that Manny is hiding another secret--one that will thrust her back to life in Brownsville and threaten her outlook on life forever.
But not everything is as it seems.
Elaine must find a way to reconcile her unresolved feelings and learn from the past, if she is ever to break the cycle of her family trauma and blaze a path toward a promising future.
Will she find the strength to transcend her generational history?
Reviews
Gallery
