FLIGHT 360
Following the success of "Voices from Zimbabwe", Dramatic Adventure made a daring journey to Ecuador in 2008. There the team taught basic english, acting, and playwriting skills to various disenfranchised communities across the country. The team also had the opportunity to workshop with Teatro La Catanga in Esmeraldas and can't thank El Patio de Comedias enough for their support. This trip was an experiment and a risk in many ways: a large group of 6 artists, traveling where we were unable to speak the language fluently, and working with a myriad of individuals and organizations. But when we arrived back in NYC after seven and a half weeks abroad, having acheived our goals and with an original play in hand, we knew this experiment had been a success! The Play, "Flight 360", written by traveling artist Leslie Fields, was performed upon our return to NYC and shortly thereafter was revived for Teatro IATI's 2008 Performing Arts Marathon, "De Todo un Poco". The responses from our audiences were overwhelmingly positive. The success of this project has the laid the groundwork for a long term relationship with Ecuador.
ACTion: Ecuador
In the summer of 2009, DAT brought an outstanding 75 theatre artists to Ecuador! Over the course of 24 days, these artists journeyed across Ecuador, exploring the diverse cultures and terrain, engaging with local communities through service projects (such as the building the Quilotoa Community Arts Center - Below), learning traditional Andean Mask dances, teaching basic acting, playwriting, and conversational english, workshopping with local theatre companies, and collaborating together to build 9 original short plays which they performed to sold out audiences, off-off broadway, at Richmond Shepard Theatre during the 2009 showcase, "Hecho en Ecuador" and also as part of a latin theatre festival at Teatro IATI's 2009 Performing Arts Marathon.
The Quilotoa Community Arts Center
While traveling in Ecuador in 2008, DAT worked with a small community in the Andes and fell in love. When asked to return to help this community build a community center where arts and knowledge can be shared, DAT couldn't dream of saying "no". So, in the summer of 2009 Dramatic Adventure Theatre returned to Quilotoa with a project called ACTion: Ecuador (above), where theatre artists refurbished an old decaying building and began supplying the center with the tools needed to take a few more step toward building a stronger community. In 2010 DAT will return with ACTion: Ecuador 2010 and deck out the interior of this new community center and begin to implement a regular program of activities for the community If you'd like to contribute to this project in some way, feel free to email info@dramaticadventure.com or make a donation by clicking HERE.
The Playwrights Project
In the summer of 2010, we will be dispatching several playwrights to several communities across Ecuador. There they will lead playwriting workshops for local artists while serving as local hosts for the travelling ACTion: Ecuador 2010 casts. Each of these playwrights will also have the task of writing a full length based on a specific aspect of the community. We're very excited to see what develops out of this project.
