Who I am
Like any human, I have always carried this feeling with me… that I want to do things that matter.
Theatre came to me like a calling on the right moment. I had already chosen to major on International Relations, but the first week of class I overheard a teacher talking about auditions for one of the university’s theatre groups. I had considered to do some acting before, but it scared me far too much to even give it a try; nevertheless, that day I decided to take the leap of faith. Long story short, I was accepted into this amazing group: Teatro Se’wak. For two years, I was part of this amazing set of people working under the line of collective creation and theatre for the oppressed, as we created plays to speak up about gendered violence, mental health, migration, and (when the COVID lockdown came a year after) to understand together how we saw the world, companionship, and solitude.
I kept studying International Relations and grew more and more interested on research. I know what you may be thinking! How is anything of this related?? But bear with me. In my universe, it is perfectly connected.
Even on my teenage years and my confusing coming of age, political art had a special place on my mind. When I had to analyze poems and novels for my literature classes, my favourite part was to read the sociopolitical context in which they were created (it helped me understand them better, and slowly turned me into a more empathetic person). I loved to learn about religious art, minorities, different world views, it was fascinating to know that there are many realities colliding in this one Earth. But it could also be painful, as I started to see the patterns of oppression and violence rooted on race, gender, and class. Art opened my eyes; it shook my world. And through the bravery of artists, it gave me hope again. I had to be a part of it.
So I kept working and moving to this ideal of creating for the people. But I still needed proper training, and that is how I discovered the wonderful Casa Maga Academy. Like its name in Spanish, Casa Maga quickly became my second home. During the welcome lesson I introduced myself with all these feelings, and they received them and encouraged them. Director Laura Montero and teachers Tefy, Andrés, and Mich always took our hands and guided us towards an art that make us feel brave, seen, and part of a sensible community. Not only did my confidence grew, but also the satisfaction of knowing that our characters grow from the authenticity we carry in our hearts. With Casa Maga, we had the opportunity to present a Christmas play in the Festival de la Libertad, a yearly celebration of peace-building and social cohesion, with a lot of free artistic presentations and workshops.
Laura always supported this dream, sharing with me a lot of resources and ideas on political art, cultural management, and interdisciplinareity. And when the moment came and I had to say goodbye to begin my Master's, she gave me the warmest of hugs and assured me that we would meet again. After two years formally training, after five years of creating, I embarked to London to solidify my goals. I would write a dissertation about Human Rights, Politics, and Filmmaking, and I would remain calm and ambitious to keep looking for opportunities as an actress.
Who I want to become
During the first months in London I started to feel lost. There are so many things to do, so many possibilities, but also so many stages in which I could fail. Luckily, I returned home for the holidays, and I remembered who I was and what I want to conquer.
In around ten years, I want to go back to Costa Rica and push forward so theatre and film become spaces for absolutely everyone. Can you imagine community theatres on each town? With vast public funding, seed commissions, widespread donation services, so children and women and immigrants and elders and everyone gets an opportunity to create. Can you imagine how many more wonderful stories could we be telling through short films? Not only do I imagine, I dream daily about it, and I truly want to work to achieve this.
In ten years, when I have acquired the expertise, I hope to connect the people of every single place that has adopted me, trained me, and supported me. When we perform, we do it with our whole hearts, trusting that we are telling the world something that needs to be heard, and hoping that someone embraces it. Let’s do that together. Let’s do that, crossing borders and oceans, politics and fears, daring and building, loving and loving all over again. Loving what we do, and loving the peoples we do this for.
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