| Teatro Abierto |
| Director's Notes |
| Declaration of Principles |
| For Press Release click on picture. |
| Jason began his career as a Lighting Designer in Albuquerque, New Mexico over ten years ago lighting dance and theatrical productions. While there he received |
| Creature / Creations Part of the Los Angeles Theatre Festival: EdgeFest 2005. |
| Event Information |
October, 6-23, 2005
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| TOLL FREE: (866) 811- 4111 |
| At the Box Office: Los Angeles Theatre Center 514 S. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90013 |
| Tickets: |
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Theatre is Life without the boring moments.
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| Where?: |
Who?:
| Los Angeles Theatre Center 514 South Spring Street (Between 5th & 6th Streets) Los Angeles, CA 90013 |
| (310) 281-7923 |
Featuring: SUZAN AVERITT as the Creature
She was a key cast member in physical theatre group GÄRUNG, and
performed with them at the New York International Fringe Festival and the
Ivar Theatre (LA Times Critics Choice/LA Weekly Dance Pick). Last year
she performed with the Rudy Perez Dance Ensemble in DOUBLE PLAY.
She is featured as Elizabeth Taylor (circa “Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf”) in acclaimed installation artist Paul McCarthy’s LALA LAND
PARODY PARADISE, which opened in Munich, Germany July 2005; and
portrays a viciously angry Virgin Mary in equally esteemed video artist
Mike Kelley’s DAY IS DONE, opening NYC Fall 2005.
Earlier this year she reprised her role as the Free Spirit in the Empire of
Teeth’s production of THE RITE OF SPRING, ETC., which has played
twice in Los Angeles (LA Weekly Dance Pick) and toured to rave reviews
at NOH Space in San Francisco.
She was a participant in the 2005 Directors Lab West at the Pasadena
Playhouse and is currently writing an original play called ORBICULARIS
IRIS, and developing an abstract interpretation of Pulitzer Prize winning
poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s life for the stage.
Email Contact...
She was a key cast member in physical theatre group GÄRUNG, and
performed with them at the New York International Fringe Festival and the
Ivar Theatre (LA Times Critics Choice/LA Weekly Dance Pick). Last year
she performed with the Rudy Perez Dance Ensemble in DOUBLE PLAY.
She is featured as Elizabeth Taylor (circa “Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf”) in acclaimed installation artist Paul McCarthy’s LALA LAND
PARODY PARADISE, which opened in Munich, Germany July 2005; and
portrays a viciously angry Virgin Mary in equally esteemed video artist
Mike Kelley’s DAY IS DONE, opening NYC Fall 2005.
Earlier this year she reprised her role as the Free Spirit in the Empire of
Teeth’s production of THE RITE OF SPRING, ETC., which has played
twice in Los Angeles (LA Weekly Dance Pick) and toured to rave reviews
at NOH Space in San Francisco.
She was a participant in the 2005 Directors Lab West at the Pasadena
Playhouse and is currently writing an original play called ORBICULARIS
IRIS, and developing an abstract interpretation of Pulitzer Prize winning
poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s life for the stage.
Email Contact...
| "I wanted to escape, but the feathers encircled me and stuck to my face." |
| "I saw how they slaughter my people, one after the other..." |
| Written by Eugenio Griffero Translated & Directed by Abraham Celaya |
Eugenio Griffero wrote this
expressionistic metaphor about
a woman whose family and
friends have all been
slaughtered by “owners of the
chicken coop.” To cope with
this great loss, the woman turns
herself into a hen. She reviews
her / its life and how she
arrived at the present situation,
realizing that she may have
been a “collaborator” because
she never opposed any of the
killings. It was easier for her to
look in a different direction
diluting herself with fantasies
and distractions in order to
enjoy her privileged status.
Only at the end she realizes
that she was just a puppet! She
was only the meat provider, the
soldier, the consumer, and the
cheap-labor provider. Just one
of those “Creations” that the
“owners” needed for their own
profit.
In the end, the great lesson we
can learn form this play which
reflects the horrible times that
happened under a fascist
administration / regime, is that
we have to speak out for that in
what we believe.
We, the people—never losing
our optimism or sense of
humor— have to state our true
convictions. It is our duty to
speak out.
expressionistic metaphor about
a woman whose family and
friends have all been
slaughtered by “owners of the
chicken coop.” To cope with
this great loss, the woman turns
herself into a hen. She reviews
her / its life and how she
arrived at the present situation,
realizing that she may have
been a “collaborator” because
she never opposed any of the
killings. It was easier for her to
look in a different direction
diluting herself with fantasies
and distractions in order to
enjoy her privileged status.
Only at the end she realizes
that she was just a puppet! She
was only the meat provider, the
soldier, the consumer, and the
cheap-labor provider. Just one
of those “Creations” that the
“owners” needed for their own
profit.
In the end, the great lesson we
can learn form this play which
reflects the horrible times that
happened under a fascist
administration / regime, is that
we have to speak out for that in
what we believe.
We, the people—never losing
our optimism or sense of
humor— have to state our true
convictions. It is our duty to
speak out.
FREDERICA NASCIMENTO (Set designer) has been working
for the theatre, dance, performance and film in Portugal. Her
awards include the Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship,
Luso-American Foundation scholarship, Tisch School of the Arts
scholarship, and J. S. Seidman Award/NYU.
She was a Design Fellow for the New York Theatre Workshop
and is now a Usual Suspect/NYTW. She is also a member of the
Portuguese Architects Association.
Frederica had the privilege designing for/with Robert Wilson,
José Álvaro Morais, Manoel de Oliveira, Wim Wenders, Pina
Bausch / Peter Pabst, , Rogério de Carvalho, Nuno Carinhas,
João Canijo.
She received her MFA from NYU in 2002, and started working in
New York with Johannes Wieland, Ruben Polendo, Reyther
Ortega, Ni Phan, Edison Woods. She is bi-coastal working
between New York and Los Angeles.
Email Contact...
for the theatre, dance, performance and film in Portugal. Her
awards include the Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship,
Luso-American Foundation scholarship, Tisch School of the Arts
scholarship, and J. S. Seidman Award/NYU.
She was a Design Fellow for the New York Theatre Workshop
and is now a Usual Suspect/NYTW. She is also a member of the
Portuguese Architects Association.
Frederica had the privilege designing for/with Robert Wilson,
José Álvaro Morais, Manoel de Oliveira, Wim Wenders, Pina
Bausch / Peter Pabst, , Rogério de Carvalho, Nuno Carinhas,
João Canijo.
She received her MFA from NYU in 2002, and started working in
New York with Johannes Wieland, Ruben Polendo, Reyther
Ortega, Ni Phan, Edison Woods. She is bi-coastal working
between New York and Los Angeles.
Email Contact...
| "This dirty chicken coop has grown old with me... I am a queen of this prison." |
The play examines the universal role of power: to control through manipulation. But, what is the role of the passive observer, the middle of the road person who looks in another direction because it is easier? Is the passive observer, the middle of the road person, a collaborator by default? The character, this Hen-Woman, has been part of the game of power, and only at the end of her journey realizes that she was guilty of no action. She may not have been able to change the outcome, but it would have been a question of principles, of moral principles. This was her "error of judgment," what in the Greek tragedy is called “hamartia,” and this “imperfection” later came to be a moral flaw. Creature / Creations is an expressionistic metaphor that requires form the audience to understand the suffering of the character; its far-reaching reverberations are far out of proportion to her flaw. Aristotle states that the purpose of tragedy is to arouse "terror and pity" and thereby effect the catharsis of these emotions. The German dramatist and literary critic Gotthold Lessing held that catharsis converts excess emotions into virtuous dispositions, so like a moral lesson, the fear and pity excited by this tragic heroine’s fate will serve to warn the spectator not to similarly tempt providence. It happened in Argentina, but it is still happening. Fascism has many faces in disguise, and the manipulation with the conniving of the media was and still is the essence of this sort of Pandora’s box. On March, 30, 1970 the day after military coup-d'état general Jorge Rafael Videla, leader of the coup, declares: "During many years there have been so many unfulfilled promises, so many plans and project failures, so deep a national frustration, that most of our compatriots do not believe any more in the word of their leaders, even thinking that one does not arrive to public function to serve but to be served by it, convinced that justice has disappeared from the Argentinean panorama." It is then that begins the so called "Proceso de Reorganización Nacional" (National Reorganization Process), with 4 basic objectives:
Immediately after the coup, the "Ley de Seguridad Nacional" (Decree of Social Defense) was proclaimed, supposedly for a short time, but it was maintained until 1981. This Decree brought a repression unprecedented in Argentina's history, as well as in so many other countries. In an interview with the Spanish magazineTiempo, in November 1983, right after the fall of the dictatorship, General Camps, one of the members of the military council said: "About 5000 people disappeared while I was the Police Chief of the province of Buenos Aires. I had some buried in mass graves. Most of the subversive people died. A few preferred not to play heroes and collaborated with us. We gave the children of the subversive to social services, because subversive parents educate their children in subversion." Regarding the economy, devaluation was artificially kept down. Short term speculating money appeared, the loan interests where very low. Currency, the peso, was put par to the dollar which created meteoric fortunes that flew out of the country as soon as the bubble started to burst. When in 1980 it was not possible anymore to contain the crisis, it was officially denied. And when two years later "the owners of the chicken coop moved to another house", Argentina, the richest South American country in natural resources was on the verge of economic collapse. Education was no different. Basically, the Reform of the Educational System "purged" all non-catholic educational personnel which were considered "compromised" or "dubious". This political reality was asking of the theatre to be part of the fight for freedom, and to bring back a national identity to the people, once and for all. Teatro Abierto was born in 1981 with this purpose: to make possible a common destiny facing the future, in order to be faithful to the identity of people's own roots. Creature / Creations portrays how many aspects of our everyday life necessarily drive us to frustration and despair. What is really better: to live on one's knees or to die on one's feet? Which one is more alienating? We have to make ourselves heard. We have to speak out for what we believe in. When we, the people, boldly state our true convictions - never losing our optimism or sense of humor - the times will change. When it comes to speaking out for justice, there isn't any need for restraint. On the contrary, to be reserved or hesitant under such circumstances is wrong. As individuals and as a community we have infinite possibilities, but we have to listen to our heart when it is telling us what is and what is not wrong. As this Creature—her own Creation—says: "The whole universe is my bed, and I am still in this... this...” That implacable law of karma: "What goes around comes around." In the words of Daisaku Ikeda: “Happiness and honor does not lie in outward appearances or vanity. Rather it is a matter of what you yourself feel inside; it is a deep, answering response in your life.” |
|
| Creature / Creations is part of a group of 21 short plays, that were specially written for the first cycle of Teatro Abierto (Open Theatre), known also as Theatre Under Vigilance, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1981 under military dictatorship. Teatro Abierto opened in July at the Teatro del Picadero, and on August 6 only after 8 performances the theatre was destroyed in a provoked fire. |
I was born under the sign of Scorpio in 1936 in my parents’ bed in
Buenos Aires of smooth labor. My plays: La Fuerza del Destino no
trae mala suerte (The Force of Destiny Doesn’t Bring Bad Luck) 7
monologues with the first Argentinean frontal masculine nude; the
critics said: “…extremely beautiful staging with a great and well
hung actor …” Familia se vende (Family for Sale) nominated for the
Molière Award. La Gripe (The Flue) with a very dark humor won the
Molière Award. Des-Tiempo (Wrong-Moment): I wanted 10
spectators on the stage of the Teatro Cervantes of Buenos Aires,
they put 100 seats; the stalls and the 4 floors of boxes sometimes
empty, sometimes lit, and there was the music from a viola that a
young men plaid in one of the boxes.
Buenos Aires of smooth labor. My plays: La Fuerza del Destino no
trae mala suerte (The Force of Destiny Doesn’t Bring Bad Luck) 7
monologues with the first Argentinean frontal masculine nude; the
critics said: “…extremely beautiful staging with a great and well
hung actor …” Familia se vende (Family for Sale) nominated for the
Molière Award. La Gripe (The Flue) with a very dark humor won the
Molière Award. Des-Tiempo (Wrong-Moment): I wanted 10
spectators on the stage of the Teatro Cervantes of Buenos Aires,
they put 100 seats; the stalls and the 4 floors of boxes sometimes
empty, sometimes lit, and there was the music from a viola that a
young men plaid in one of the boxes.
| EUGENIO GRIFFERO |
I won the Molière Award for best play. Principe Azul (Charming Prince) one of my more cheered
plays. Also won the Molière Award, represented Argentina in numerous festivals and has been
produced in many languages and countries. Cuatro Caballetes (Four Easels) at the Teatro
San Martin. El visitante extraordinario (The Extraordinary Visitor), Pausa (Pause), La abeja en
la miel (The Bee in the Honey), Circomundo (Circus World), Gente educada (Educated
People), La enana (The Midget).
Currently Mr. Griffero lives between Spain and Argentina.
plays. Also won the Molière Award, represented Argentina in numerous festivals and has been
produced in many languages and countries. Cuatro Caballetes (Four Easels) at the Teatro
San Martin. El visitante extraordinario (The Extraordinary Visitor), Pausa (Pause), La abeja en
la miel (The Bee in the Honey), Circomundo (Circus World), Gente educada (Educated
People), La enana (The Midget).
Currently Mr. Griffero lives between Spain and Argentina.
| JASON MULLEN (Lighting Designer) |
| He has since relocated from Albuquerque to Los Angeles where he earned his Master's in Lighting Design at CalArts. He has designed numerous productions of dance, theater, and opera throughout Los Angeles. Most recently he has worked with The Sacred Fools, Venture West, & Tricklock Company. When not in the theater, Jason is the Sales Manager at Entertainment Lighting Services where he designs and supervises the installation of theatrical lighting systems. Email Contact... |
a BA in Lighting Design from the University of New Mexico.
Teatro Abierto, also known as
Theatre Under Vigilance, was a
movement born of the idea of
organizing everybody in Argentinean
theatre to exercise in fraternal
solidarity the right to freedom of
expression.
It had also the intention to
recuperate a diminishing theatre
that was farther and farther away
from the public domain due to
commercial production practices of
those times.
It is in this scenario of social
instability with "artists black lists",
that playwrights, actors, designers,
musicians, and anybody who was
politically, socially and artistically
involved, created the first TEATRO
ABIERTO in 1981 with no limitation
in its ideology.
Theatre Under Vigilance, was a
movement born of the idea of
organizing everybody in Argentinean
theatre to exercise in fraternal
solidarity the right to freedom of
expression.
It had also the intention to
recuperate a diminishing theatre
that was farther and farther away
from the public domain due to
commercial production practices of
those times.
It is in this scenario of social
instability with "artists black lists",
that playwrights, actors, designers,
musicians, and anybody who was
politically, socially and artistically
involved, created the first TEATRO
ABIERTO in 1981 with no limitation
in its ideology.
