Two Stages/Spaces in Puerto Rican Theater: A Report From the Field

FALL 2009 189 Two Stages/Spaces in Puerto Rican Theater: A Report From the Field Jade Power Although the best times for watching theater in Puerto Rico are often during the various theater festivals that take place throughout the fall and spring, theater activity seemed pleasantly robust this last July, at least on some fronts. My past theater research on the island has generally been focused on “alternative” theater, or “el otro teatro,” and the spaces in which this takes place. I am glad to report that this movement of experimental performance continues, both within and outside of the confines of designated theatrical spaces. Even as the Teatro Diplo in Rio Piedras closed due to small audiences and lack of sufficient local support, members of PACA (Proyecto Artístico, Cultural y Académico) are remodeling the same building to house the Sala Teatro Beckett. The new space promises to host a café and film showings, as well as new performances by emerging artists. Simultaneously, a couple of blocks away, in the same bustling Río Piedras business district, Teatro Estudio Yerbabruja, hosted its 10th annual Mixta con todos, a potpurri, or “mixed plate,” that included solo performance, masks, multi-media, live music, and an array of artists that reflected a diversity in age, experience and artistic vision. However, the most gratifying theatrical experience during my brief visit to the island, and certainly the most promising in terms of talent, social import, and originality, was the play Policías, Vaqueros, Burócratas y Piratas presented as “teatro de urgencia” by La Perilla y El Kibutz, a collective of young artists. We were told that the performance would be starting at 11:00pm on Wednesday night. It had recently rained and most of the plastic chairs in the small back patio area of the newest Rio Piedras hot spot Il Jazz Club were still wet. It was just about 11:00 when we got there, the front room hosted a Latin jazz quartet and in the back just a handful of people were standing 190 LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW around talking, smoking and drinking. I managed to score a chair, dry it and made sure no one else took it while I bought some empanadas and tortilla española sold by a cheerful argentina under a big umbrella who informed me that the proceeds were for the actors. I noted that we had not paid to enter the club, nor had anyone charged admission in the back patio. I was not quite sure what to expect from the upcoming performance, at best some amateurish political theater with perhaps a couple of especially talented individuals who would carry the show. Several empanadas later and nearing midnight, the patio was getting packed even though there was still no sign that the show was going to start. I was glad for the one chair that my partner and I kept taking turns with as 60 or more people crowded into the tiny space. What would be the playing space, a small area of about 150 square feet, was however respected and kept empty.Although the chairs were not positioned in rows they were assembled in a clump on one side of the space, all facing in the same general direction, and there were also a few clip lights hanging on the 8 foot walls that helped to further frame the stage area. The opening scene immediately captivated the audience, and remains a clear image in my mind. The seven actors pushed their way through the crowd in the back and filed onto the stage, lining up facing the audience. Dressed as policemen and policewomen they began harassing the audience, just inches in front of us, pointing at us, accusing us, preparing to write us citations, telling us that we could not do whatever it was we were doing. They began speaking one at a time and later started interrupting each other, until their voices eventually blended into a cacophony of shouts. Their bodies were tense with the gestures of authoritative intimidation. This whole sequence, although at times uncomfortable to watch, was hilarious and was met with gleeful laughter from the audience once the initial uncertainty...