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AMERICAN-STATESMANFriday, January 24, 2003 A new voice to fill a void in the theater By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, AMERICAN-STATESMAN ARTS WRITER Proyecto Teatro's voice fills a void Proyecto Teatro forges a Latino
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AMERICAN-STATESMAN ARTS WRITER Friday, January 24, 2003 For actor and director Alejandro Pedemonte it was a question of connecting -- of offering a different type of cultural entertainment option for Spanish speakers in Central Texas. Something beyond spending evening after evening watching telenovelas, or Spanish-language soap operas, on cable television. And that's kind of ironic when you consider that the 30-year-old Pedemonte once had a career himself as a telenovela actor back in his native Peru. "But I got a little frustrated with that," says Pedemonte, whose rapid-fire speech underscores his kinetic sense of energy. "I wanted to try something new, something different." Over the past decade, Pedemonte has moved back and forth between Austin and Lima several times. And so when he bucked his telenovela career a few years back, he headed to Austin once more with the intent to stay for good this time. And the intent to start a theater company. This weekend, Proyecto Teatro -- with Pedemonte as the director and a participating actor -- will present its first production, "El Día de la Luna," a drama by young Peruvian playwright Eduardo Adrianzen about a father and son who reconnect after more than a decade apart. The 90-minute one-act play was, of course, written in Spanish. And so Proyecto Teatro will perform it in Spanish. Austin has for years had a plenty of excellent -- and popular -- Latino theater and comedy that is presented partially in Spanish or in English. But Pedemonte sees Proyecto Teatro as addressing a specific niche. "Our principal objective is to involve Latin Americans here in Austin with contemporary cultural in Latin America," says Pedemonte. "Theater is a great way to connect. And we're committed not to do theater in `Spanglish,' but in Spanish." Still, Pedemonte insists that Proyecto Teatro productions are not just for native Spanish speakers. "We welcome people who are learning Spanish," said Pedemonte. "After all, issues that are important in Latin America right now are important here, too." In fact, it's Pedemonte's dream to some day have English-language supertitles projected during Proyecto Teatro's productions so that "everyone could connect." This isn't the first time Pedemonte has staged a Spanish-language theater production in Austin. He tried about five years ago. The problem? Not enough Spanish-speaking actors. So he ended up scouting for talent at bars frequented by Latin Americans. "It was good to involve people in theater for the first time and see them get excited by it," he says. "But it was also too frustrating." So when he started Proyecto Teatro about a year ago, the first thing he did was initiate a series of acting workshops for young adults. He encountered no shortage of interest. "I found so many young people looking for something to do, looking for a new way to develop their social life," he says. With a cast of only three, "El Día de la Luna" hasn't meant that Pedemonte has had to draw on his students. At least not yet. That might happen this summer when he stages "A ver, un aplauso!" by César de Maria -- another piece by a Peruvian playwright. "I have almost a whole suitcase of contemporary Peruvian scripts!" laughs Pedemonte, though he notes that he has plans to stage all kinds of Spanish-language theater. His goal, after all, is about bringing people together: "This is about making a connection with the (cultural) reality of what's going on in Latin America right now." jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699
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Copyright ©
2003 Proyecto Teatro
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