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9-6-98
As if anybody had to remind the readership, but it is HOT here in Progreso. Even
the natives say it's hotter than usual, that
it's bothering everybody, not just visitors. But the mountains are still here, beautiful as ever.
And the theater is still here.
It seems that some upgrading has occurred since the last time I was here. Two new desks house
the computers (one of
which crashes at the most inopportune moments). The office is clean and efficiently organized.
I'm particularly interested
in this, since my main purpose here is to finish translating some of the
fraguaīs plays for a bilingual anthology Jack and I
hope to publish soon. So the nice work area is certainly appreciated.
Many of the actors I knew are now elsewhere, but the new guys are just as capable and just
as nice. The daily routine
seems unchanged: rehearsal in the morning, and in the afternoons, Edilberto composing in the
back while ballet classes
meet in the front of the theater. This time, I'm again staying with Pedro's cousin, but I have
borrowed a bike, which makes
the commute easier. It sounds odd, but I love the challenge of maneuvering safely down the
lunar landscape streets,
negotiating the 4-inch dropoff at the railroad tracks, not to mention avoiding dogs, chickens,
people, and the cars and trucks
that drive on whichever side of the road is the most passable.
The other day, I sat in on a group meeting. Edy Barahona is now acting as business
manager,
and he is trying to organize
things to eliminate certain problems, such as the disappearance of tools. From now on, each
storage area will become the
responsibility of a designated actor. For all their ideology, I wonder if this cooperative style of
management will work for
the group. I hope so.
10-6-98
Today I managed to completely screw up the screen of the word processing
program I'm using, but later I managed to get it
back to normal. I need to take more breaks. I also played a tape of the song I want to
choreograph (with Pedro's help, of
course). He seems interested. I also e-mailed my secretary to see if anybody she knows in the
computer department can
help us solve the problem the one computer is having. It certainly helps that
tlf has entered the computer age.
12-6-98
I spent all day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday, when it was actually
Thursday.
Strange how once you get used to the
rhythm of life here, the days pass very tranquilly. Except for a small case of heat rash, I'm quite
happy. I guess I'd rather
be hot than eaten alive by the mosquitos.
17-6-98
Today I stayed late, in order to watch Pedro's ballet recital. Four groups of girls,
from little preschoolers up to preteens,
showed their parents and families what they had been doing at the ballet school. After warmups
at the barre and some floor
work, the girls put on a short original dance, using the steps they had practiced in warm-up.
Pedro really has the levels
well-articulated; you could see the steps the little ones were doing become more complex at each
level. The little ones
radiated joy; the older ones were much more serious: conscious of the audience and of making
mistakes. In spite of the
occasional turn in the wrong direction, or the momentary lapse in timing, each girl had at least
one splendid moment when
she became a graceful and elegant swan. The parents were very pleased (as was this casual
onlooker) with the girls'
progress. Afterwards, there was a brief meeting with the parents, while everybody else
demolished a table full of
homemade treats.
18-6-98
Today we arrived at the office only to find that there was no power. Since the play
being rehearsed (ALTA ES LA
NOCHE, a piece about Francisco Morazan's followers in the 1840's) requires a computer-run
sound system at this point,
Jack improvised. It became the right moment for a read-through of the play on
Bartolomé de las Casas (Defender of
Indians) that Jack wants to stage (the play is written by Colombian Enrique Buenaventura). His
idea is that, together with a
piece on Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, the piece on Las Casas and the play in rehearsal
complete a trilogy that
focuses on Central American history. We sat around outside under the trees (natural light
source), until it began to pour;
then we moved under a shelter. The play reads well; parts of it are quite funny. It's a fresh look
at Las Casas, a man born
practically at the same time as the printing press and who came of age with the Conquest of the
Indies. Every scene is
loaded with meaning, information, and sharp characterizations. In the afternoon, rather than sit
through another read-through, I picked up the Romero script and read through that. The great
thing about Jack is that while looking randomly for
good scripts that deal with Central American issues, he manages to create a meaningful trilogy
that will both inform and
entertain. I have certainly learned more from my contact with
tlf than I ever did in a classroom.
20-6-98
Today, while I was typing away in the back, I heard Jack begin to incorporate
harmony into the main song of ALTA ES LA
NOCHE (The Night is Far Advanced). I heard some pretty discordant singing initially, but then,
all of a sudden, a
wondrous sound reached my ears: a chord in four-part harmony. I got goose bumps. I can't
wait to sit through the whole
play.
22-6-98
Out of town tryouts. We're going to premiere ALTA in Olanchito, for two reasons.
First, because it is the home town of
the original novel's author, Ramón Amaya Amador. Second, because
tlf was born here nearly 20 years ago. The cultural
center in Olanchito has a patio, shaded by two huge trees, where the group performs. The stage
is at one end of the patio,
and has a roof. Jack puts me in charge of taking "crowd" pictures. In fact, once I'm in charge of
the camera, I never really
get a chance to just sit and watch the play. As we are setting up, Edy informs us that the group
originally scheduled has
canceled at the last minute. What to do? The actors fan out, giving interviews at local radio and
tv stations, and visiting
local schools. We end up with a full house (patio).
In Olanchito, as the actors are running through the play, re-blocking the action for this stage,
a young man with Down
syndrome gets bitten hard by the acting bug. After observing the group for a few minutes, he
walks right up onstage, and
begins to mimic the action. The actors work around him, but nobody asks him to leave. Turns
out he is the son of a
woman who works in the cultural center. His sister and I each take a side of the stage during the
performance, to keep the
kid from joining in. I ask Jack for a raise, since I'm now a bouncer as well as a photographer.
The opening goes well for
the most part, but there are some bugs to be worked out.
24-6-98
I wake up with a cold. By mid-day, when we get to Savá to set up, I'm
unable to help at all. I run into a pharmacy and get
some Comtrex. When we take our personal stuff to the training center in Sonaguera, I stay
behind and sleep. I miss the
performance. Oh well. Fortunately, that's the worst of it, and I'm ready for the next one.
25-6-98
Today is Juan's birthday. After we set up in Tocoa, we take off for Trujillo, and an
afternoon at the beach. Jack and I work
on the translations. The zancudos make a tasty snack of my left arm, which gets all red and
blotchy from the bites. Jack
uses up the last of the color film taking shots of the guys against the tropical beach background.
In the evening, we
celebrate Juan's birthday with cake.
26-6-98
Tocoa. Seems that most of the church complex where they are performing runs on
the same electrical circuit. This
presents problems, and they have to run an extension to the house next door for the sound
equipment. The morning crowd
of about 250 high-school kids is fairly attentive. When the actors introduce themselves at the
end, Javier draws wolf
whistles. The afternoon is another story. Instead of dividing the rest of the schools into two
shows, as Edy had originally
planned, the teachers decide to bring them all at once. It is hot standing room only, and the kids
are so noisy that you can
barely hear the actors from about the sixth row back. The quality of the show declines to meet
its
audience. At night the
actors end up playing to a "crowd" of 17. Such is life on tour in Honduras.
30-6-98
My last day. Although by this time, I'm usually anxious to get back to
"civilization", I find myself surprisingly emotional
and unwilling to leave. I think what attracts me most to working with
tlf is their capacity to inspire. When their characters
speak of ideals, they can ignite sparks in even the most hardened cynic. I find myself returning
to
the States and my
teaching with renewed energy and a desire to make a difference.
--Deborah Cohen, Ph.D.
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