Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca.-The children stand from their chairs at the order that Don Chuy gives in the middle of the stage. Everyone begins to jump, contort, wave their hands, following the instructions of the puppet at all times. Happiness is very evident among the children, who once again concentrate and live together in the street, thanks to the puppet Theater.
Jesús Carranza is aware that those most affected by this Covid-19 pandemic it is the children: many fell into depression and stress due to the sudden abandonment of play spaces, gatherings in parks, school, recreational spaces such as cinemas and theaters. It is here that the puppets of the Teatrino traveling project lighten the spirits of the little ones.
When Jesus begins to interact, through Don Chuy, with the children sitting in the middle of one of the streets of Asunción Ixtaltepec, even the quietest participate; the most hyperactive interrupt the fables that are narrated on stage and scream at the top of their lungs to be heard, turning the street into a classroom.
The noise increases when Jesus announces the conclusion of the show, 40 minutes of fables. The children want more, they get up from their seats and run to the mobile theater and start bombarding the actor with questions; he, with a tired throat, still has the patience to explain that the role has a limit and that the characters must rest. Disappointed, the children walk away with their mothers, waiting for the next performance.
Read also: “Teatrino”, a mobile theater project for children from Oaxaca, begins its journey in Ixtaltepec
“The intention of this theatrical experiment is to reach children, that is why I conceived the idea of setting up a theater on four wheels and taking shows to the streets, to the door of children’s houses, because the intention is that this vulnerable group be distracted with playful activities, interact and learn about theater and other topics such as the environment, brotherhood and solidarity ”, he explained to EL UNIVERSAL.
The Teatrino project, by the young theater producer Jesús Carranza, is a mobile theater that will visit communities on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, sections and neighborhoods of Juchitán, with the sole intention of bringing the theater closer to children, seeking to relieve them a little from confinement as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo: Roselia Chaca
The juchiteco, who has a degree in acting from the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo, promotes independent theater in Juchitán from his space La Libélula, where he also gives workshops to children and young people, putting on scenes works with a community sense.
As a result of the health contingency, it closed its space located in the Fifth Section of Juchitán and, given the lengthening of the restrictive measures, decided to take the theater to the streets in the form of a theater with wheels, hooked to a truck that was previously a car. of scraping.
Bilingual puppets
Photo: Roselia Chaca
In the city of Juchitán there is another educational and recreational proposal with puppets, promoted from her home by the teacher Felipa Noriega, an educator with more than 21 years of experience at the preschool level, who currently attends the second grade in the preschool “Juana C . Romero ”, in Tehuantepec.
This teacher created several rag characters to make the educational process more bearable with her students through applications and social networks, such as Zoom and WhatsApp, during confinement due to pandemic. Among the characters stand out María Sicarú, a bilingual girl who dresses in the traditional clothing of the Zapotecs and who is the student of the teacher Bendahuancio, a shrimp. Both characters intervene with Felipa during class hours.
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The writer and storyteller began online classes in confinement as a teaching tool; From the Facebook platform, he shared the activities, but later he began to upload video-narratives in Zapotec, taking advantage of his job as a storyteller, a strategy he uses to teach his students.
Even though he continues with the stories in a bilingual way, now he uses the puppets to energize the classes and develop their five senses in the children.
“It is interesting how children react to shapes, colors and puppets, they are very curious; With this tool we make their senses more alert to sounds, colors and textures ”, commented the Zapotec teacher.
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