Classes in New York’s public schools have come to an end and to celebrate the end of the school year, the theater group of the Pan American International High School (PAHIS) presented its theatrical adaptation inspired by Bernarda Alba’s houseon the stage of the Spanish Repertoire.
And it is that in addition to being a school production, this work has a factor that closely links it to the situation of our immigrant community.
Acting Ensemble & Allison Ayala (Photo: FFCP)
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The PAHIS theater group facilitator, Helio Sepulvedahe detailed: “We realized that many of them lived the experience of being separated from their families at the border. And of having also lived the experience of being in the border detention centers for many months and even years.”
The Pan American International High School is a school that receives Latino students who have just immigrated to the country and supports them in this adaptation process. And as part of their academic instruction, the theater group allows them to link their personal experiences to the performing arts.
Acting Ensemble & Jeffrey Caballero (Photo: FFCP)
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Hamilton Chan is one of the students who was part of the montage’s technical team: “We decided to make it about what icebox. And it also favored us that some or, at least I, have gone through that; So, I have – more or less – an idea of what is happening and it became easier for us to link the events with Bernarda Alba’s house”.
Since it is a sensitive and difficult topic to address, the montage was supervised by social workers and school psychologists, in order to protect the emotional health of the students.
Acting Ensemble & Marlon Rodríguez (Photo: FFCP)
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“We did the play here, inside our school. And after the play we had a conversation with all the students who saw it and many of them felt inspired to be able to speak and tell their story. So, that’s how we also see the impact of theater and how art helps us heal many wounds we have,” explained Sepúlveda.
One of the students in charge of this very contemporary adaptation was marlon rodriguezwho recalled his experience inside the detention centers: “Despite the fact that I never spent more than two weeks in a cooler, which is how they are commonly called. Well, I did have several experiences because I met boys and girls who had been in those places almost two years; that they did not know what day or time it was because they had already lost track of time; some did not even remember their family because they had not seen them for a long time. And the situation was quite frustrating. “
And it was thanks to the educational program of the Spanish Repertoire that the farewell to the school year brought these students the opportunity to see all their efforts represented on a true New York theater stage.
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