For almost the last half-decade, senior Jorge Rochet has been studying and demanding visibility for the impacts of the U.S. Naval occupation of Culebra and Vieques, two Puerto Rican islands. For the culmination of his research and work as a Colgate University student, Rochet, a concentrator in theater and environmental studies, wrote, directed and performed a 90-minute play titled “Ni Una Bomba Más” as his theater honors thesis.
He created a shorter piece last semester and expanded it into the longer play in the spring. The play is about Bieké (the Taíno name for Vieques), a female embodiment of Vieques and spirit who brings the audience into the Bomba “ritual,” and her trajectory connecting with her grandchildren through Bomba music while they live through the U.S. Navy’s occupation.
“Last semester, I wrote a 15-minute piece, which was chosen to be performed as part of the Performing Identities Across Cultures (PICS) Microteatro festival at Colgate during early November,” Rochet said. “The play blends personal testimony, historical memory and Puerto Rican cultural expression. It explores the environmental destruction, health crises and emotional trauma left in the wake of bombings, forced displacement and political neglect. Through dynamic characters and the sound of Bomba music — ironic because bomba means ‘bomb’ in Spanish, but it also refers to the traditional Puerto Rican music — the play confronts questions of colonialism, resistance and healing, while honoring the strength of those who continue to fight for justice.”
Rochet grew up in Puerto Rico, and his interest in the history of the American Navy on the Vieques and Culebra Islands began when he realized that he knew very little about the subject, despite seeing remnants of the occupation when he visited the islands. In 2022, Rochet met an engineer who had been with the U.S. Navy in Vieques and claimed that there were no inhabitants on the island during the Navy occupation — which Rochet realized had to be untrue. This sparked Rochet’s desire to learn more about his own history, and the story of the islands.
Rochet’s research began as a student-initiated research project between his sophomore and junior years. He did ethnographic research over the summer of 2023 on Culebra and Vieques, where he went to museums and festivals related to the islands and spent time among the residents.
“I explored the environmental, social and political impact of the United States Navy’s 101-year occupation on the islands,” Rochet said. “I led this investigation with the purpose of amplifying the stories and voices of my people. Due to this passionate commitment, I decided to begin writing a historical-fiction play based on the interviews and the stories that are left off the history books.”
Rochet has given talks in the past few years about his research, but chose to pivot towards his theater background in order to present the information in a new medium.
“When I was doing the research, I knew that I wanted to do something creative with it, because I am an environmental studies and theater double-major,” Rochet said. “I’m intrigued about how you can use the arts as a form of resistance, and to educate people as well while also entertaining [them], and making people see for themselves. It’s different when you read it in an article, and have that research in front of you.”
Rochet also collaborated with Bomba Yagüé, a Puerto Rican diaspora group based in Rochester, N.Y., for his play. They came to Colgate for rehearsals and performed as a live Bomba band during his shows. Rochet chose to highlight Bomba music because of its role in Puerto Rican culture and history, and the connection with the protests against the Navy.
“‘Ni Una Bomba Más’, the title [of the play], that’s kind of like a quote from that era of the protest — ‘not one more bomb, ni una bomba más.’ It’s interesting because there is also this Puerto Rican form of music called ‘Bomba,’ and bomba means bomb in Spanish, but then bomba was born on the island when the Spanish brought African slaves […] and they created Bomba as a form of resistance,” Rochet explained. “[Enslaved people] would steal the wine and sugar barrels and made instruments out of that. That’s what I wanted to portray in the play, even in these horrible circumstances there was still some sort of joy.”
Rochet sees the play as an educational tool, but also a political commentary piece with implications beyond the immediate subject of the Naval occupation. He wanted viewers in the U.S. to question the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, and to start thinking about the future of the U.S. and its territories.
“In the play, I never touch on Puerto Rico’s political status […]. In some sense it’s like we’re U.S. citizens so the fact that you’re throwing bombs on your own citizens — who are you protecting? But then the play never explicitly says Puerto Rico should be a state or Puerto Rico should be independent,” Rochet said. “The play kind of causes the audience to think about themselves and their positionality […]. What I wanted [was for] people to empathize, and see it for themselves.”
Rochet is incredibly passionate about his work and plans to further produce and develop “Ni Una Bomba Más” in the future. He considers the present rendition more of a “workshop production” and envisions a completely different version of the play being performed in Puerto Rico. He wants to continue advocating for education and reparations and sees the present as a crucial time to do so.
“It’s easy to go back, and say ‘ok, now what? Now what can we do about it? This finished in 2003.’ But the reality is that it hasn’t really finished, like right now Vieques suffers the highest cancer rates in all of Puerto Rico, and the military doesn’t own any accountability for that link […]. [There are] unexploded bombs that are still left scattered, so you know it still matters today. Even when I went there I wanted to go on this trail on the beach, and [a sign] said ‘beware, bombs. You need to be able to recognize, retreat, and report.’”
