Re: RATAHonduras

["Megan Monaghan" <meganmonaghan@email.msn.com>]

Jack, words fail me.  But hospitality doesn't.  If I can help you out at all
with Austin connections, please say the word.

Best,
Megan
(now considerably north of Austin)

-----Original Message-----
From: john Bentz <bentzsj@juno.com>
To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Date: Friday, July 07, 2000 10:46 AM
Subject: RE: RATAHonduras


>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).
>