AtticRep

C/o Department of Speech and Drama, One Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212   Tel: 210.999.8524

Artistic Statement
All theater mirrors its community. AtticRep’s new Forum Theater Project will strive to reflect the topics of San Antonio.

Using performance strategies and theatrical language, Forum Theater Project will construct an original performance that focuses on the individual’s sense of belonging to our San Antonio community. In particular, this Forum will interrogate how belonging to a specific cultural and ethnic identity determines self- and public conceptions of citizenship in San Antonio and, by extension, America.

AtticRep will provide the means to forge these ideas into provocative concrete form.
The Forum Theater Project aims to stimulate dialogue; and through dialogue, change.

Pragmatics
The Forum Theater Project is divided in three parts; research, workshop, and Forum Performance.

Research
The first stage is to identify cultural communities within San Antonio that could inform the theme’s discussion. Once one or more communities are identified, a group of AtticRep artists will canvas the community to collect life stories from the members of the community.

Workshop
The collected stories will be brought to AtticRep, and in a workshop environment using improvisational and narrative techniques, these stories will be translated into an original theatrical text. The text will then be workshopped, transcribed, memorized and rehearsed for performance.

Forum Performance
The Forum Performance is divided in three events.

EVENT ONE is the performance of the original text.

EVENT TWO is the repeated performance of the original text. This time, however, the spectators will be invited to participate in the performance with the objective of changing the outcome of the story. Spectators can do so by stopping the performance and taking the place of one of the actors on stage. More audience members can replace more actors, and the performance is continued to its final, often unpredictable, resolution.

EVENT THREE is a discussion between the spectators, the actors, and the spect-actors, those spectators that took the place of the actors. The objective of this discussion is to bring to the surface the theme of the Forum Theater.

Inspired by the work of Brazilian theater director Augusto Boal, this Forum Theater Project is the first of its kind in San Antonio. AtticRep will present this original performance in the Attic Theater at Trinity University on March 13 and 14 at 8 PM.

Meanwhile listen to AudioForum where we have posted some of the stories we collected. Write your comments or suggestions on our blog.

E.J. Roberts is a student at Trinity University and a native of San Antonio, graduated from MacArthur High School. He performed in AtticRep's production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Just a Kiss and Trinity University's production of The Laramie Project.

Rachelle Ramirez. As a small child, I learned the fundamentals of painting from my parents, who taught me that I could use my self-expression to learn more about the world and my self. Now, as I have become a Sociology and Studio Art major at Trinity University, I have begun exploring the importance of art as an extension of the self, especially as a means for causing and encouraging social change. I have worked with the homeless in San Antonio for three years through photography, and these works have led me to produce more installation-type pieces that seek to place the viewer in close proximity to the subjects, both physically and emotionally. From May 2006 to May 2007, I worked as a counselor and liaison between the San Antonio Municipal Courts and homeless people. This led me to develop an “art therapy” group with the homeless, which I continue to direct to this day. During the summer of 2007, I also worked with a community in Camden, New Jersey to improve the conditions of the neighborhood through environmental advocacy, as well as painting a mural in the neighborhood. I also aided an engineer in designing a rainwater collection system in Camden and installed a composite mural made by the children of Camden on the rainwater collection tanks. I am currently exploring the use of photography with homeless individuals in San Antonio to help shape future forms of homeless aid in the city through a program called “PhotoVoice”, which involves teaching photography to a group of homeless people and helping them develop their own thoughts and ideas about their lives on the streets and articulating them to the larger San Antonio community through photographs.

Renee Garvens made her debut performance at the AtticRep in Fat Pig and will appear in The Back of the Throat. She has been been seen on local stages since moving to San Antonio in 2001. Renee is in her sixth season as a member of the Vexler Children's Theatre Troupe. Some of her favorite past roles include Alice in Alice in Wonderland, Sarah in Beau Jest, Huck Finn in Tom Sawyer, and Charlotte in Charlotte's Web. She has also appeared in numerous local and national television commercials and independent films.

Caroline Balogh is a senior at Trinity University, and intends to graduate this May with degrees in Sociology and Drama. Favorite roles include: La Presidente de Tourvel from Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Sarah Brown from Guys and Dolls, Edith from Not Enough Rope, and Sunny from Sunny Sentiment. She is a resident mentor, Vice President of both Blue Key and the Sociology Club, a member of Mortar Board, Alpha Kappa Delta, Best Buddies, the Senior Committee, and was recently named “Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities.” She enjoys volunteering, people, photography, and hopes to spend the years after graduation working for Teach for America.

Yinelly Arnold. Some of her past credits include Pain of the Macho, Baby with the Bathwater, Twelfth Night, Charlotte’s Web, Just a Kiss, and Stage Manager for Las Nuevas Tamaleras.

Madi Goff, was born in Austin, Texas and raised on a ranch in the hill country outside Austin. Along with acting, Madi has ridden and shown horses her whole life - English, Western, jumping, and bareback. Currently, she is a student at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas studying drama and film. In addition to a drama major, she hopes to graduate with minors in communication management, film studies, and business. Acting is Madi's passion. She plans on pursuing a professional acting career after college.

Christy Huffman. Although she's been acting in and around San Antonio for over fifteen years, this is her first time on the AtticRep boards. Of this format, Christy says, "It's an intense, thought provoking experience that stirs up your emotions immediately." She encourages audience members to put aside any fears and hopes all will feel free to interact with the players on stage.

Ty Mylnar is a junior at Trinity studying theatre and dramatic education. After graduation, he hopes to be accepted to the Masters of Art in Teaching program here at Trinity and maybe even teach high school theatre. Ty played the Prospector in The Madwoman of Chaillot, Millet in Fuddy Meers, and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. A puppet enthusiast and student of hacky-sack, Ty hopes to procure a ranch in the hill country, and park himself on Main Street in Kerrville by the age of 40.

Sheila Rinear is an Award-winning, published playwright, and has had over two dozen of her plays produced.  She is an adjunct faculty member in the Drama department at Trinity University and is on the Gemini Ink’s Writers in Communities Faculty.  She belongs to The Dramatists Guild, Theatre Communications Group, The Playwrights Center, Austin Script Works, and SATCO.

Roberto Prestigiacomo. His creative work includes the development of community-based theatre through improvisation and storytelling techniques, and the creation of original physical theatre pieces. At Trinity University, Roberto teaches directing, acting, physical theatre, theater for social change, and contemporary performance. He is a member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), American Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), and is a native of Rome, Italy. Roberto is the Producing Artistic Director of AtticRep.