Ofelina
"A Park In Our House"**
Florida Stage, Manalapan, Florida
1998
**Carbonell Nomination for Best Actress
Oscar Riba
"... The cast, truly an evenly matched ensemble, is sublime. Still, it is the women you'll remember.
Peterson, an American actress, is so convincing as a Latina that you'd swear she once called
Havana home. Her metaphoric instruction to Camilo about sex - delivered as she's removing
the entrails from a pathetically scrawny black-market pig - is both touching and funny." -
Christine Dolen/Miami Herald, 1998

".....no easy trick in the company of Jessica K Peterson, last seen here in Hysteria, an ethnic
chameleon whose bone-weary Ofelina is the delicate balance of this put-upon family unit.
If
Cuban women stand out, that is due in part to Cruz's recognition of their strength.
.." -
Hap Erstein/Palm Beach Post, 1998

"...
Benny Sato Ambush ... steers a first-rate cast gingerly through Cruz's Park.... Each member of the
fine ensemble cast can turn a character facet to the right dramatic or comic angle for scintillating acting
moments.....".
- Jack Zink/Sun-Sentinel, 1998

"...
Benny Sato Ambush... has nurtured wonderfully naturalistic performances from his actors, from the
convincing erotic-tempered maternalism of Peterson...."
- Skip Sheffield/Boca Raton News, 1999
Alex Medina