It’s sublime, in rhyme… 
this season of the death of reason!
January 16, 2009 San Miguel de Allende

Theater 
The Death of Reason
Fri–Sat, Jan 16–17, 8pm
Sun, Jan 18, 6pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
200/300 pesos

Stefanie Glick’s original play The Death of Reason ends this weekend. Don’t miss it! Produced as a benefit for IREE, the only school for deaf children in the region the show features live Klezmer music, great acting (with visiting professional actors from the States and a strong local cast), and apparently lots of men in black cocktail dresses.

Bittersweet Christmas Eve in Maine 

Playreaders Theater
Silent Night, Lonely Night
Tue–Thu, Jan 20–22, 7pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
20 pesos 

San Miguel Playreaders present Robert Anderson’s Silent Night, Lonely Night, a play about a chance encounter between two lonely people staying at a country inn in Maine on Christmas Eve. As they share their stories with each other, they find comfort and a measure of joy. Anderson’s excellent writing about relationships, particularly marriages, is evident in this bittersweet play. Dennis Pipes and Teresa Major will appear as the couple, with Clara Dunham as a young honeymooner. Ruth Schlimovitz will make her second appearance with Playreaders as the chatty housekeeper at the inn. Lois Read directs. Doors open at 7pm and the play starts at 7:30 or when the house is full. A reminder: Tuesday night is usually not a full house, so if you have a choice, come then.

Art festival rolls out for the first time

Iguana Festival de Artes ’09 
Feb 4–28
Fair
Feb 21–22, 11am–6pm
Avenida Indepedencia 82

Kirsten Dehner questions Alan Jordan, both of Iguana Productions, about the reasons for their new venture: Iguana Festival de Artes ’09.

Kirsten Dehner: Why a festival of the arts in Colonia Independencia? 

Alan Jordan: It’s true what they say about necessity being the mother of invention. You know this, but the way I see it, professional level theater demands a venue that honors the hard work of everyone involved, and for Iguana that means four-week runs—a three-year tradition that has served us and our audiences well. Every year we’re sold out. So, when we lost our theater in the Jacaranda due to the hotel’s renovations, we were forced to look elsewhere. I found nothing in Centro, but I got lucky in Independencia where I discovered a sweet space in a fiesta salon with generous owners willing to accommodate us. We’re in the process of converting it into a theater for the month of February. The location is not far. It’s a five-minute taxi ride from downtown; you can park your car all along the Avenida, or a bus drops you off a block away. Walking, it’s less than 25 minutes from the Jardín.

KD: We usually do one play a year. Why a festival?

AJ: I thought, why not celebrate theater, music and the visual arts together? It’s not been done here, to my knowledge, and why not use the festival to encourage tourists and locals to get acquainted with a neighborhood outside of Centro? We decided to do two plays in repertory: Central Park West by Woody Allen, and a collection of scenes and monologues, Mixed Nuts. We’re also bringing in two Spanish language productions: Joan of Arc by John Morrow, and a one-woman show, Antiespectáculo #3. Both very accessible even if you don’t know a word of Spanish, and bilingual theater has been on Iguana’s wish list from the beginning. We’re also presenting Tuesday morning play readings with bagels and coffee, and Alicia Rappoport gives us her new musical presentation, Secrets of the Heart. Thirty-two theater offerings in all. We offer catered dinners and cocktails, too. And then there’s our Artesania’s Fair. 


KD: Tell me about the fair.

AJ: Across the street from the salon is a large piece of land with a spectacular view, and it seemed like the perfect spot for a fair. Our fair is different from others in that it’s invitational rather than first-come, first-served. We’re looking for high-quality work. Gravity Works will perform, along with other street performers, food, drink, and all that. 

KD: This is an ambitious undertaking and yet you seem undaunted. Why? 

AJ: I’ve been doing this sort of thing my entire professional life. The worst thing about acting is the waiting, so early on in my career I invented ways to keep my skills and creativity alive. I created Actors Repertory Company and The Actors Workshop in Toronto, Muskoka Players in Ontario as well as ongoing programs in Los Angeles and New York. Also, it’s just in me. I was entrepreneurial as a child and my mother was a creative businesswoman. She taught me how to support a vision. She’s my role model, so you can blame this all on her.