SWOPblogger

Don't forget to check out this hilarious play. There are 9 shows and tonight is the first night!

Get your tickets at SWOP - 505-247-8832 or Out ch'Yonda 505-385-5634.

What: We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!
Written by Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo

Description: A sidesplitting satire! Laughs are on special when 1997 Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo opens the can on shoplifting. In a new translation by Fo's close collaborator Ron Jenkins, We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! is a side-splitting satire that'll have you rolling in the (grocery) aisles.

Details: Written by Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo. Directed by Stefani Willis. Music by Enrique Cardiel, Rosina Roibal, Patrick Clark

Cast: Venessa Katzenberger, Cherish Henson, Virginia Hampton, Ife Hampton, Shrayas Jatkar.

“Hunger is the central theme, but it also encompasses the hunger for justice, dignity and love,” explains the director Stephanie Willis. Written in 1974, and adapted for American audiences in 1999 Fo is known to have led the field in political satire in Europe for over 30 years.

“Culture and Arts are vital to the education of young people,” says Rosina Roibal the Jovenes Unidos Organizer. “Especially when it deals with current political issues youth around the world are facing and making sure we connect it to local struggles. Although this play was written over 30 years ago, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina makes this play incredibly relative to young people today.”

Shrayas Jatkar who is playing Giovanni, recalls imagery from the tragedies in New Orleans, “this play reminds me of the footage we saw on the news during Hurricane Katrina; families having to take food from the liquor store in order to survive. The play is funny, but very real.”

When: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays
May 11 – May 27th
Fridays/Saturdays 8:15pm, Sundays: 3:15pm
$7.00 General Admission
Seating is limited to 50 per performance

Where: Out ch’Yonda Live Artz Studio 929 4th St. SW · 385-5634

Pre-Sale: SouthWest Organizing Project
505-247-8832
211 10th St. SW (10th & Park) or
Out Ch’Yonda 10-2 Mon-Thurs,1:30-4:30 Sat.

Contact: Out Ch’Yonda 385-5634 or
Rosina Roibal 615-5008 rosina6@yahoo.com

Labels: Dario Fo, grassroots theatre, jovenes, We Won't Pay

This is a great example of popular education in action and a way to learn about globalization. Much thanks to the children and the innovatinve ways of the after school program of Tesuque Pueblo. This was in today's Journal Santa Fe Edition.

Tesuque after-school group sells sports bottles to buy rain gathering system

BY GINGER MCGUIRE Journal Staff Writer

TESUQUE PUEBLO — Being able to help people in Africa gives 11-year-old Lakeisha Moquino an warm feeling and a sense of accomplishment.

The fifth-grader said participants in Tesuque Pueblo’s afterschool program researched poor water conditions in the world and learned that the people of Africa are experiencing a shortage of clean drinking water.

“We saw that (the people of) Africa walk miles to get water,” she said.

Some 25 members of the after-school program, mainly elementary students, are participating in a leadership project called Tapping Water for the World. So far, by selling sport water bottles with the “Water for the World” logo, they’ve raised $1,700 to help build a rainwater harvesting system in Chad. The goal is to raise $2,500.

Robb Hirsch, director of the after-school program, said he is looking for donors to match the money collected. The total cost for a rainwater harvesting system is $5,000.

The money for the water project will be sent to Global Green USA, an affiliate of Green Cross International. Hirsch said the organization helps build school-based rainwater harvesting systems that capture, treat and recycle water.

A handful of the youth involved in the project made a presentation to Tesuque Pueblo Thursday, teaching their audience about the project and the importance of water conservation.
They hung posters with messages such as, “The world’s water needs are in our hands” and “Don’t waste water.”

Hirsch said the students involved had a big say in the type of project they would work on, and work on a new leadership project each school year.

Last year the students collected blankets and books for the homeless. The year before they worked on a “Be Alive, Don’t Drink and Drive” CD that was played on local radio stations.

While the youth in the afterschool program launched this year’s campaign, Hirsch said a number of organizations including the Tesuque education and environment department have been instrumental in the project.

The water bottles, which cost $5, are available at Tesuque Village Market and Camel Rock Casino. For more information, or to donate, call Robb Hirsch at 988-3364 or email him at info@ takeresponsibility.us.

Labels: globalization, jovenes, Santa Fe, Water, youth

Labels: Dario Fo, grassroots theatre, jovenes