“Coming back to the stage to play such a beautiful, complex character is the dream of any actor,” says Nino.
Lately, when he’s not fulfilling his role as assistant vice president for adult and online education at Rhode Island College or serving as program director for RIC’s Bachelor of Professional Studies Program, Miko Nino is rehearsing for the lead role of Aesop in “La Zorra y Las Uvas” (“The Fox and the Grapes”).
Produced by Teatro ECAS, the first and only Spanish-speaking repertory theater in New England, the play opens on Thursday, Oct. 16, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 26, at 679 Valley Street, Providence. It will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles.
As the central character, Nino embodies the life of Aesop, a Greek slave, grotesque in appearance, who attempts to win his freedom from a master who despises him. Though it is far from certain whether a historical Aesop ever existed, ancient Greek sources describe Aesop as “a strikingly ugly slave who by his cleverness acquires his freedom and becomes an adviser to kings and city-states.”
In preparation for this role, Nino conducted extensive research on the Greek socio-political milieu at that time. Using method acting techniques, he delved deep into the psyche of Aesop and will undergo a drastic physical transformation to allow the character to truly live through him.
“Though monstrous in appearance, he is the most beautiful character I have ever played,” Nino says. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but the beauty of the human character is inside. The physical appearance is just the wrapping. The real gift is inside.”
Aesop is able to gain prestige in society because of his wit and the wisdom of his fables.
“He had a keen sense of observation,” notes Nino. “When you observe, you learn. Aesop would observe the behavior of animals and instantly connect it with human behavior. His fables are also a critique of society, using animals rather than people as his subjects.”
But what mattered most to Aesop was his freedom.
“I think Aesop was born understanding what really matters in life,” Nino says. “He understood that wealth doesn’t define you and outer beauty doesn’t define you. What really matters is freedom.”
Through “La Zorra y Las Uvas,” Nino returns to the stage after a 20-year absence. The 38-year-old first fell in love with theatre at the age of 10 in his native Panama. Five years later, he enrolled in a summer acting course, which ended with the students staging a play. Little did he know that in the audience he was being observed by a member of a professional theatre company.
Two weeks later, he got a call from that company wanting to cast them in their play. He was only 15 years old, and it was his first paid acting job.
“I’ve been very lucky because I’ve worked with the best directors and teachers in Panama,” he says. “They guided me, pushed me and really helped me understand what this business is all about.”
“In March of this year, a friend invited me to come with her to see a play that was being put on by Teatro ECAS in Providence,” he says. “When I sat down and the show started, I got chills. Everything came back. I realized that the actor in me had never died. It was dormant. I introduced myself to the producer and director of the play. I learned that they were doing auditions for ‘La Zorra y Las Uvas.’ I auditioned and . . . here we are. Coming back to the stage to play such a beautiful, complex character is the dream of any actor.”
For ticket information, visit the Teatro ECAS website.