It's National Latino Heritage Month, So Check Out Some Plays; Also Check Out Univision; Also Check Out Blood Is the Only Good Adhesive in Heaven; If You Still Have the Energy, Go Party at China Club and Halcyon

A more economically responsible way to celebrate Latino heritage would be to patronize Repertorio Español's Festival of Jewish Latin American Theatre, which comes to Manhattan this Thursday. Jewish Latin American Theatre? What's the deal? Associate Artistic Producer Robert Federico filled me in:

"The strong tradition of Jewish culture in Latin America dates from the turn of the century. At the same time that many Eastern European Jews were traveling to the United States, see, they also traveled to South America. The boat would go to Ellis Island first and if a person was judged to be too sick to enter America, he stayed on until he reached Buenos Aires.

"This happened to one of our best actresses, in fact, Amelia Bence, who was a famous movie star in the 50s. Her father put pepper in his eyes to get out of the Russian army, but when he got to New York they wouldn't admit him because the pepper was still in his eyes, so he came down... Argentinean theater audiences, like American, are disproportionately Jewish."

The Festival of Jewish Latin American Theatre is a long-term extravaganza; it involves four productions and 12 play readings over the next three Repertorio Español seasons. The first play, however, Volvió Una Noche (She Returned One Night), runs only until Nov. 4. It has a traditional overprotective Jewish mother coming back from the grave to harass her son about his Catholic girlfriend, and premieres Thursday at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $40 and the whole thing goes down at Gramercy Arts Theatre (138 E. 27th St., betw. Lexington & 3rd Aves., 889-2850); www.repertorio.org has more information if you need it.

...Another Latin American play, this one with a trippier theme and three-year New York track record, comes to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe the same day. The Armadillo: A Latino Fable, written and performed by one Juan Avila, features a young man, the son of undocumented Latin American workers, finding his roots as a Mayan Indian through a dream journey.

You know how it is with dream journeys?you always need a band. Luckily Juan Avila plays guitar, and he comes equipped with Conjunto Juan Avila, four guys on bass, keys, sax and drums, to back him up as he peppers his narrative with world music. Guest performer "Dr." Don Jacobs handles the narration itself, which includes "Ships of Misfortune," the ruins of Chichen Itza, a deep pit of water called "El Cenote," a dream within a dream and a world of pleasure and amnesia that our hero, the Armadillo, visits. This is out-there stuff, but it lasts only 50 minutes, and if it weren't good, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236 E. 3rd St., betw. Aves. B & C., 505-8183) wouldn't have it back every year. File under Don Juan and 12 bucks; the show runs from Thursday to Saturday at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 4 p.m.

...For more trippy plays, check the specs on Blood Is the Only Good Adhesive in Heaven, which has limited engagements Wednesday and Saturday by Washington Square Park:

"You may have never realized it, but gum is the perfect receptacle for human DNA. When you chew gum, you impregnate it with your DNA-rich saliva. The entire genetic history of New York is preserved in the blackened gum spots you see all over the sidewalks and subway platforms of Manhattan... Blood Is the Only Good Adhesive in Heaven is built around the channeled stories of the original gum-chewers."

Screw the original gum-chewers?where is Michael Crichton in all this? He's been slacking off since Jurassic Park and this sounds like his comeback novel; say some enterprising "life assurance" agency gets out there and clones everyone who died in the Twin Towers, what then? (I know it's a disgusting idea, but get used to it?once Afghanistan has a stock market we're going to get back to cloning and these are the issues we face.) You have to write it, Mr. Crichton. I don't have time.

In any case, Blood is a one-man show performed by Sxip Shirey (pronounced "Skip"), who hauls in pieces of sidewalk, licks their gum spots and tells the stories of the people who left them, accompanied by pitch-shifted penny whistles and amplified flutes. Sxip also has a singing troupe, the Willing Lung Choir, and frightening mechanized wings to add to the atmosphere.

Blood premiers Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m., in the Washington Square United Methodist Church (135 W. 4th St., betw. Washington Sq. W. & 6th Ave., 561-0343). From then on you can catch it every Wednesday and Saturday (same time) until Nov. 3. Call first for reservations and be ready to shell out $12, all for a guy named Sxip.

...New parties! One's in Manhattan; one's in Brooklyn; both cater to your drinking and dancing needs.

First, China Club (268 W. 47th St., betw. B'way & 8th Ave., 398-3800) has something going Oct. 11 called, apparently, "China Club"?at least that's what's written in Chinese characters on the fliers that have been circulating in clubs and college classrooms for the past two weeks. This is your basic house and hiphop party taking advantage of the venue's three floors and its nifty indoor/outdoor terrace. What makes it special is that it's hosted, in part, by 11-year veteran Pancho, who's trying to build a franchise night on Thursdays to match the one China Club already has on Mondays (when "Shei Shei Lounge" reins in the celebs).

DJs Benny Maze and Shawn Ink play house (the music, not the children's game); DJ Sizza Handz handles hiphop, and as always, be on the lookout for new-party goodies like drink comps and easy admission. The price is $20 ($15 if you can track down one of those fliers) and the dancing runs from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

On the same night, dog-friendly coffee/beer/wine spot Halcyon (227 Smith St., betw. Butler & Douglass Sts., Brooklyn, 718-260-9299) brings in a slew of English and American talent for "Get with the Program." It's a new bimonthly event hosted by the Earthprogram crew, who've been doing high-end lounge nights in this city for more than six years, and its premiere offers guest DJ Scott Hardkiss.

Hardkiss is one of those electronic music gurus who shuttles from continent to continent, releases tons of material and invents things like "the classic 'west coast sound' of breakbeat." Not to trivialize his blipping, but whatever. It's the first night of the party; free promos and t-shirts will abound, and since it's Brooklyn there will be no cover and the drinks will be reasonably priced. "Get with the Program" promises more Hardkiss-caliber guests on Thursdays to come; it starts at 9 p.m. and runs until midnight.