Fremont students perform at Theatricum Botanicum
Shirin Parsavand | 12-23-2009 | Comments |
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The young performers clapped and whispered rhythmically as they marched onto the outdoor stage in a quiet grove of oak trees. The whispered words grew louder as they all took the stage. “In lak ech,” they repeated. “In lak ech.”The phrase, one performer explained, translates as: You are my other self.
The Mayan saying summed up the ideas at the heart of a production students from Fremont High School in South Los Angeles performed Saturday at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga. The students wove together Latino history and stories of other civil rights struggles to come up with “2012 – A Lesson in Time.”
Many of the students who performed Saturday had never participated in a theatrical production before the collaboration with Theatricum Botanicum, which spent seven weeks with students at Fremont. The students quickly had to learn how to adjust to the demands of an outdoor stage after their first performance earlier in the week in a school classroom for teachers, parents and students.
“You had to project your voice louder,” Javier Valle, 17, said afterward. Javier, whose part included a lengthy monologue, said his only other performing experience was singing in his church choir.
The students’ work on the production came during a tumultuous time for their school. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced earlier this month that after years of poor academic performance Fremont would be shut down temporarily at the end of the school year and all staff members would be forced to reapply for their jobs. Students and teachers have protested the move.
At the start of Saturday’s performance, Theatricum school programs director Elizabeth Tobias noted that Fremont had been in the news lately. “I’ve been running into people at Fremont who are the most dedicated people you’ll ever find,” she added.Fremont High School students Edward Asencio and Jessica Plascencia in the production "2012 -- A Lesson in Time" at Theatricum Botanicum
Fremont teachers worked along with Theatricum’s artist educators to combine lessons in social studies and literature with instruction in theater skills of collaboration, improvisation and ensemble work. This is the third year Theatricum has worked with Fremont as part of its Americana off the Page program.
The 22 students who wrote and performed in “2012 – A Lesson in Time” participated as part of the school district’s Beyond the Bell program. At Fremont, a year-round school, Beyond the Bell offers academic intervention and enrichment both after school and between school sessions.
The students first saw a performance of “Viva La Raza!,” written by Theatricum’s artistic director Ellen Geer and performed by actors from the theater’s repertory company. The production, which uses songs, speeches and poetry to depict Latino history, served as a springboard for the students to develop their own performance piece.
The piece centers around two characters, Nick and Sarah, who enter a time machine to learn lessons from the past and future. Along the way, they encounter previously unfamiliar moments in history, such as ancient Aztec ritual and female soldiers in the Mexican Revolution.
Just as Nick and Sarah have to adjust rapidly to what they see, so did the performers have to make adjustments along the way. The show at Theatricum Botanicum originally was planned for Dec. 12, but was delayed for a week because of rain. With the student cast as Sarah already away on vacation, 16-year-old Jessica Plascencia stepped into the role with a week’s notice.
Jessica took it in stride. She said the switch made it hard on Nick, played by 17-year-old Edward Asencio, because she didn’t know all the signals to give him.
“They’re great kids,” said Daniel Chacón, an artist educator with Theatricum Botanicum who worked with the students along with fellow artist educator Gerald Rivers. “They’re ready and willing and they have a voice that needs to be heard.”
Some are concerned about the future of partnerships like the one that resulted in Saturday’s performance because of proposed budget cuts in the Los Angeles Unified schools. The district’s budget proposal calls for a 50 percent reduction in the elementary arts program in 2010-11 and the elimination of the program in 2011-12. Through the program, elementary school children get regular lessons from district specialists in music, dance, theater and visual arts.
Plans are now being made for private fund-raising to keep the program afloat if the cuts are made, said Robin Lithgow, administrative coordinator for the district’s arts education branch. She said classroom teachers, district arts specialists and the arts community all are essential for children to have an education in the arts.
At Fremont, Theatricum is planning another round of sessions with students in the Beyond the Bell program in January and February, this time focusing on African-American history.
In addition to the Beyond the Bell program, funding for Theatricum’s residency at Fremont comes from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Boeing Foundation and the Bannerman Foundation.
Gerald Rivers, an artist educator from Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, talks to Fremont High School student Javier Valle after the performance of "2012 -- A Lesson in Time."
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