New Jersey Stage Issue 61 | Page 55

across the Caribbean, Alexa and Beni understand what’s at stake for their ancestral homeland. As Puer- to Rico faces an uncertain future, the twins do all they can to wit- ness, find, and remember its past. Timestorm is produced by Cocotazo Media with support from PRX and the Google Podcast creator program. The series is written by Dania Ramos and fea- Ramos. “After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I rewrote the plot so that the contemporary scenes took place in 2017 in the days leading up to, during, and follow- ing Hurricane Maria. This meant addressing the storm’s impact on the Ventura family and portray- ing the extraordinary fundraising efforts that took place in Newark and the surrounding towns at the Ramos says the initial idea came from a proposal she wrote in 2013 for a stage play about New Jersey history. tures sound and music by her husband Michael Aquino. It features the voices of Leilany Figueroa from Montclair; Walter F. Rodriguez from Budd Lake; Alicia Rivas from Jersey City; and Orlan- do Segarra from New York City. “We began the main develop- ment process for Timestorm in the spring of 2016,” explained Dania NJ STAGE - ISSUE 61 time. Michael (Aquino) and I drew on our own experiences being un- able to reach family living on the island for several weeks. It was an extremely difficult period for so many in our community and we hope people find that we’ve rep- resented it with truth and respect.” Ramos says the initial idea came from a proposal she wrote in 2013 INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 55