A Special Invitation

Accessible to all in the USA will be the PBS screening of the Burke/Shapiro documentary ¡TEATRO! on the work and performances of teatro la fragua. It's part of a PBS series called "P.O.V.", and in most areas will be shown September 4. In markets with large Latino populations, the screening will be delayed until later in the month, and in any case your local PBS station may choose to show it at another time -- so call the station manager of your local PBS station to find out the exact date and time it will be broadcast in your area. And then tell all your friends about it.

¡TEATRO! has won prizes in the Chicago Film Festival, the San Antonio Film Festival, the American Film and Video Festival, the National Educational Film Festival and others. In the coming months it will be screened in Festivals in Cork (Ireland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Philadelphia, New York, the Wine Country Film Festival in Northern California, and will be broadcast on Irish, Austrian, and Swiss television

For those of you in the areas of St. Louis and Kansas City, the accompanying flyer gives you a schedule of our first US tour: we'll be in the US from July 23 to August 7, and will do a series of workshops, screenings of ¡TEATRO!, and live performances.

The live performances will be a "Sampler" of our work which will include four sections:

1. Dance (the surest way to break down the language barrier).

2. Central American stories: "Los Motivos del Lobo" ("The Wolf's Motives") by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío; and "El Origen del Maíz ("The Origen of Corn") from the folk mythology of the Jicaque Indian tribe of Yoro, Honduras.

3. "The Play of Herod", a cutting from our Christmas mystery cycle, based on the Biblical stories of the birth of Christ and the medieval plays of Herod and the Magi.

4. Las Dos Caras del Patroncito ("The Two Faces of the Boss"), the play from Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino which has remained a central work of our repertory since our first performance eleven years ago.

We've chosen these pieces with an English-speaking audience in mind: the emphasis is on visual communication. And to help break down the language barrier still further, everything will be performed with English supertitles.

You've helped us survive and grow through eleven difficult but fulfilling years. We're looking forward to meeting you and letting you see first hand what we've been up to. Hoping to see you soon.

Peace,

Jack Warner sj