Issue #14: Curtain Up on Transformation by Jesai Jayhmes

Teatro de la Tierra's Journey of Artistic Discovery and Community, a class of its own

It’s mission, to provide space for artists to remember why they became artists in the first place. To inspire and promote expressions of creativity. To nurture collaboration and community through performing arts.

Theater (place, activity or concept) throughout history has served as tribal gathering, school of philosophy, a forum of critical thinking, a safe zone for personal growth, place of entertainment and path of spiritual practice.

On a day to day basis, we humans use a very narrow bandwidth of our potential expression. We tend towards what is habitual, polite, friendly, appropriate, censored, edited and controlled. Our raw emotional states only surface in crisis; prompted by those unpredictable events that catch us off guard, the stuff of which dramas are made.

In classes and workshops offered at Teatro de la Tierra we explore our origins, through movements, sounds and stories. In the safety and trust established in a theater class, we open up to a wide range of human expression. We play out the human drama, experiment with the extremes in life and death situations.

I discovered theater class in high school. It was my refuge. There were freaks like me who didn’t get off on crushing it in sports. We loved creating stories, taking people on journeys and getting out of class to rehearse. We hung out backstage together and bonded. We dressed up, played with identity and had fun all within the boundaries of a legitimate art form.

As time went on the depth of the art form began to reveal itself to me, not just as a career path, but as a sacred calling. A spiritual dimension became evident, a methodology to “know thyself” seemed possible through theater and acting. Now, after many years, encounters with teachers, shows, countries, groups, the calling still resonates in me. Here, immersed in the nature of Costa Rica, the work continues.

You need not strive to be an actor to benefit from joining a class. The personal benefits are many and are directly applicable to everyday life. These benefits include growth in confidence, enhanced communication and leadership skills, a sense of peace and inner connectedness, an ability to listen deeply, opportunities to collaborate and develop trust. One also uncovers a sense of empathy, a willingness to take risks and an ability to have more fun.

The substance of the classes covers several areas such as training the actors instrument, the body. The body is the delivery mechanism, the interface between you and the audience. The body requires flexibility, relaxation and openness. The senses need to be activated to receive all that the present moment offers. Be here now is an active practice because the theater event happens in the present. There are exercises in how the body moves, how different personalities express themselves physically and emotionally. We explore how body language communicates inner intentions.

We ask fundamental questions when approaching a role. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? What are my needs? How do I go about meeting them? What do I say about myself? What do others say about me? What actions do I take to get my needs met?

People who begin the journey of acting are often surprised to find that it is not about pretending to be different people. Actors use who they already are to enter the circumstances of others. The path is empathy and compassion. Although classes are not therapy, the affect of taking part can be therapeutic for all the reasons mentioned above. Self knowledge moves to self mastery in the process of sharing stories with others.

Theater is practiced in a group setting. It is a collaborative process. An ability to create together is essential in order to serve the story. It must fully engage the audience. Although we all have what we call ego, ego is checked at the door. The classes are preparation for being part of an ensemble.

These are some phrases I have heard about what acting is:
— Acting is reacting.
— Make the other actor look good.
— Its not about you.

Acting styles are presented in classes, from highly stylized to naturalistic. We act by using scripts, as well as through improvisation and performing ones own work. Participants in acting class are often invited to take part in productions of Teatro de la Tierra. It is an excellent way to integrate the training.

This year we will be presenting the Oedipus Trilogy of Sophocles which will be part of the first International Festival of Greek Theater in Atenas hosted by Teatro de Tierra. A grant from Iberescena allows us to invite three international Latin American companies performing shows in the Greek theme. The groups will be announced in the coming two weeks. They will offer workshops at the Liceo Colegio and present shows in central Atenas free to the public.

Teatro de la Tierra launched in March 2020 in Antiquo Panaca, now the development of Ecovilla San Mateo. It occupied one the of the amphitheaters on the property that had a stage of Earth, thus the name, Tierra! We produced a variety of events including La Sombra de Rey Lear, (Based on Shakespeares King Lear) La Finca (based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm) Noche Incubadora (a night of short new works). An international festival of Butoh Dance was hosted there. Finally the Oedipus Trilogy was launched (as readings) in preparation for this current year's project.

Teatro de la Tierra is now based in Atenas. The new property, in Concepcion de Atenas, has a space for classes, and rooms for artists in residence who will come for short stays to rehearse and develop new work. A garden is being planted and there are many fruit trees. The location allows for the connection with the earth to continue. The natural environments will be used as performing venues, and the convenient location is easily accessible for events, classes and workshops.

We welcome your enquiries and participation. Classes are ongoing Tuesday mornings from 9 to 11am. Have a show idea you want to develop? Resources to share? Do you like designing and making costumes? Building sets? Setting up magical environments? Acting? All the world’s a stage and you are the lead actor in your story.

— Jesai Jayhmes

Send us a WhatsApp with any questions you have, be sure to include your name: 6231-8150. Or 6133-7479.

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Or the website at teatrodelatierra.com.