Small world!

 with José Luis López, Mariela Zavala,
José Luis Recinos  and Tito Ochoa 

Here's a cool international coincidence...

This evening I went to see Teatro Memorias' production of La Muerte y La Doncella (Death and the Maiden) by Ariel Dorfman, a challenging  play about revenge set in Chile after the fall of the Pinochet regime.  The show was very well done by the ensemble which included Jose Luis Recinas, the Director of the Escuela Nacional de Arte Dramatico (ENAD).  The very cool coincidence is that I was introduced to the director, Tito Ochoa, and when I mentioned I was visiting from Portland, he asked me if I knew Michael Griggs ~ my friend, theatre artist and member of the Miracle's Play Selection Committee!  (Hey Michael, Tito says hello!)

Michael visited Honduras back in the 80's and Tito had been one of his students!  Tito went on to work in Czechoslovakia for 8 years and then in Colombia, where he co-founded the Escuela Nacional de Arte Dramatico with the National Theatre.  Tito returned to Honduras where's he's spearheaded not only the launch of Teatro Memorias but also the fundraising to create their new theater, the first alternative theatre venue in the city.

Seeing the show was a great way to end this first week of rehearsals and workshops.  At left are the students and a couple of the instructors of the ENAD who have been participating in the workshop these past few days, a great group of talented, dedicated young artists.  Theatre is an uncertain field in Honduras; I've been told there's virtually no government support and this translates into few training opportunities for the serious artist and then limited resources with which to produce professionally. These young artists and their instructors are true risk-takers; that spirit is evident in their willingness to approach the various physical and emotional explorations we undertook this week.  It's been an honor to work with them.


Rehearsals continue for Esperanza para un pais mejor.  The play is about 20-25 minutes long and it's been great to have a good amount of time to rehearse and build skills as we go.  Today we worked on: stage combat techniques and gave the students time to beat each other up safely!  At right, three of the actors in the play.  Siria plays La Codicia (Greed), Luis is the Presidential candidate, and Alejandra is his running mate.  They are pointing to his vote-getting beauty mark...

I can imagine these young actors working at Teatro Memorias someday!