Friday, February 1, 2013

Dialog/Diálogos: SCR and Latino Health Access Story Circle

Some of the participants from SCR’s first Dialog/Dialogos workshop at SCR, Jan. 28, 2013.
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A large circle of chairs filled up Monday in Colab for a daylong workshop about the Dialog/Diálogos project. Representatives from South Coat Repertory and Latino Health Access spent the day learning about community-based theatre from members of the outreach and engagement team at Cornerstone Theatre. SCR and LHA are partners in the Santa Ana-based project.

Marc Masterson, SCR’s Artistic Director, says Dialog/Diálogos is important because it will give SCR opportunities to connect with Latino residents of Santa Ana through the process of making theatre together.

“This can be a life-changing process,” he said. “By listening to stories and putting them into a production, we give voice to the voiceless and start building a new kind of community.”

During the day, attendees were able to sample the type of activities designed to help bring out and tell stories: people told stories, sampled the audition process, and at the end of the day, three teams put things to practice by creating and presenting short performances.

“What we modeled today is how we’ll go into the Santa Ana community, bring people together in a story circle, listen to stories and over the time of our project, let those stories reveal themselves. Then we’ll come back to the community and by working together, craft Santa Ana’s stories into a production,” said Jose Cruz González, project playwright.

He’s enthusiastic about what the project will bring and mean to Santa Ana residents: “I can’t wait to see what we can create together.”

The two-year project is funded by a two-year grant from The James Irvine Foundation.

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