RE: RATAHonduras

[john Bentz <bentzsj@juno.com>]

Dear Rats-

Ending week two here in coastal Honduras.  Have adjusted to quinine, fried
bananas, heat, dirt roads, incredible poverty, ants on everything and
generous people.
Am working with a resident company called Teatro la Fragua which has 10
actors on salary. That is to say they actually show up for work every
morning at 8 am and we work until 5. And this is 50 weeks a year.  What a
luxury!   We even have a repetoire of productions.  Only here and at the
Met.  Since the company is now 20 years old they all speak the same language
and share a similar vision for the theater in Honduras.
Our building is an old officer}s club of a now abandoned banana camp. Wooden
everything, good lights at least now, great sound, open screen sides for the
breeze and even dressing rooms.  It is a real home for the actors and a
space NY rats would sell parts of their tails for.
As the goal of the theater here is to create a national culture where there
has not been one before, we work on all fronts.  The plays, often about
Honduras history, folktales, we do school presentations in schools that have
never seen a play or met an actor.  We have an ongoing world film festival
each weekend, a radio progam of classical music, we work in the churches, we
have a ballet school here for children and then of course the tours into the
country and out of the country.
We are spendingthe next few months getting up for a tour of CHicago,
St.Louis, Milwaukee, Austin, and Dallas. We are touring a play by california
playwright Carlos Morton called Romero of the Americas as the first
installation of a proposed three part cycle of plays by different authors
about the history of Central America.  Good play and a great production.
Now just to get the subtitles working and visas passports for everyone.

Jack Bentz


------Original Message------
From: "Bottom's Dream" <bottomsdream@linkline.com>
To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
Sent: July 7, 2000 3:34:06 AM GMT
Subject: RAT 50 words




----------
>From Erik Ehn's article:

RAT CONFERENCE IS 
"A decentralized international assembly of performing arts organizations
sharing work and ways of working, as peers." 
A rhythmically occurring disgrace (not a collective, not a consortium - a
disgrace). 
A scam. 
The self created (requisite) enemy of our own ideals. 
Love of neighbor expressed in acts of corporal mercy (where love includes
fury).