Teatrotaller, (Spanish for "Theater-workshop"), was founded in 1993 by a group of enthusiastic and energetic students in the Cornell campus. With the idea of preserving and promoting Spanish, Latin American and Latino cultures through theater, Teatrotaller has devoted itself to the production of plays in Spanish and "Spanglish." Now, nearly 25 years later, Teatrotaller holds a well earned reputation for excellence in artistic performances. Teatrotaller has also performed internationally in Leige, Belgium; Puebla, Chiapas, and Mexico City, Mexico; Jerusalem; Quito, Ecuador and Toronto, Canada as well as locally (New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia).
If you represent a university, you can invite the group to your campus!
Teatrotaller presents classical, contemporary and experimental plays of Hispanic origin to the community with a regular schedule of performances in April, August and November each year. Teatrotaller has presented plays ranging from the humorous social commentary in "Rosa de Dos Aromas," to the conflicts of preserving Hispanic traditions in the United States in "Botánica." Other productions included "Hoy se comen al flaco ," an experiment in story telling by incorporating narration and acting on stage; the highly acclaimed "Quintuples," an exploration of human interrelationships by manipulating the boundaries in the performer/audience relationship; and "Una tal Raquel," where Teatrotaller did the world-premier performance of a play centering on Jewish Argentines in turn-of-the-twentieth century Buenos Aires. Our many summer performances--like "Fron/teras" and "A Night with Marta Divine"--have also added to our artistic and cultural purposes. Summer plays are usually lighter and shorter than the full-scale productions during the academic year, and are repeated for the community during the Hispanic Month celebrations in September and October. Among Teatrotaller's recent productions we have ranged from the fast-paced Spanish comedy, "Yo tengo un tío en América " to the documentary play, "La mujer que cayó del cielo," the world premier peformances of three short plays by Nora Glickman in Ithaca and in Israel, the collective creation project based on a field visit to Chiapas, "Kan Balaam", and our recent performance of Cristina Michaus' "Mujeres de Ciudad Juárez " to sold-out crowds in Ithaca and Quito, Ecuador, José Casas' "14" (including a visit by the playwright) and the original rave play, "Adult Roy's Badland" Ithaca and Bucharest), and the recent year-and-a-half long collaboration with the Chaepani arts collective in Kolkata to produce "Root Map" in Ithaca, Kolkata, El Paso,Texas, and the Almanzo Wilder historic homestead in collaboration with the Mohawk nation and the Native North American Travelling College at Akwesasne on the USA-Canadian border.
You do not need to be a member of the Cornell community to participate: anyone and everyone is welcome to become a member of Teatrotaller
as long as they are willing to fulfill all tasks to which they commit themselves.
Latino Studies or Latin American Studies 3010 (Teatrotaller): Students may enroll in Latino Theater
Production 3010 and take the course for letter grade or on a S/U basis. The course involves selection of an appropriate theatrical text, close analysis of the
literary aspects of the play, and group evaluation of its representational value
and effectiveness. All students signing up for the course are involved in some
aspect of production of the play, and write a final paper as a course requirement.
These students will
be responsible for attending all weekly general body meetings and any emergency
meetings. If they are officers, they attend all officers’ meetings and all team meetings. The final grade for the course will be based on individual contributions as well as the overall quality of the performance. Credit is variable depending upon the student's role in play production: a minimum
of 50 hours of work is required for one credit; a maximum of three credits will
be awarded for students who make major time commitments. Click here to see what past students have said about Teatrotaller.