Ernesto and Sandra García are accustomed to making art out of next to nothing at their theater space, Teatro en Miami Studio.
Dreams, drive and talent do what meager funding cannot, allowing the couple to create productions that have become an important part of Miami's increasingly vibrant Spanish-language theater scene.
The Garcías' resourcefulness should come in especially handy over the next month as the two mount a brand-new festival, TEMFest 2010, an event designed to celebrate the richness of that home-grown theater. Their budget? A mere $3,500 in cash and in-kind donations, just a fraction of the $250,000 to $500,000 annual budget for Miami's 25-year-old International Hispanic Theatre Festival.
``This will be a small festival compared to what we want to do,'' says Ernesto García of the event that will showcase the work of a dozen Miami companies. ``We want to present work in a selective way and show that this is good theater we make in Miami.''
Adds his wife: ``We hope the festival will unify and get our theater community together.''
After Ernesto, a playwright, designer and composer, and Sandra, an actor and teacher, won a visa lottery and came to the United States from Cuba in 1995, the two set about methodically rebuilding the theater life they had shared at Havana's Teatro Estudio. Sandra has worked at 17 jobs since arriving in Miami, everything from cleaning houses to working in community education at Miami Dade College. Ernesto has been a tire technician, an auto body parts delivery driver, a filmmaker, website designer and musician. Together, the self-described ``frugal'' Garcías have earned enough to carve out a place in Miami theater.
``We don't have money, so we have to improvise,'' says Sandra.
Ernesto spins it a bit differently: ``We don't have money. We have ideas.''
Their first idea, realized in 2000, was to create a website (www.teatroenmiami.com) that would serve as a clearinghouse for information about theater in most of the Spanish-speaking world.
Their second was to find and open their own theater space, which they accomplished in 2007. Perched above a Little Havana tire shop, Teatro en Miami Studio contains a small black-box theater, a dressing room and a small terrace where Ernesto can smoke and the two can sip café Cubano. The setup is modest, but it seems like heaven to them, and they have tried to expand their reach by adding English supertitles to most of their productions.
Now comes the third idea, the festival, which will pay tribute to a pair of South Florida Spanish-language theater pioneers, Teresa María Rojas of Prometeo and Mario Ernesto Sánchez of Teatro Avante/The International Hispanic Theatre Festival. Besides Teatro en Miami, the festival's participating companies are the Hispanic Theatre Guild, Teatro Abanico, Free Soul Dance Company, Maroma Players, ICRA, HavanaFama Teatro Estudio, Nuevo Teatro 66, El Idearium, Cirko Teatro, Galiano 108 and Miami Guiñol.
Marcos Casanova, artistic director of the Hispanic Theatre Guild, says the festival is ``. . . very much needed. We were all involved in our own things in the past, and there was little cooperation. . . A lot of work and planning goes into a festival like this, but if anyone can do it, it will be the two of them. They have the energy and drive. I hope it's here to stay.''
Three months of 18-hour days have gone into the inaugural TEMFest 2010. The Garcías say that they'll put even more time and planning into the second, which they hope will become an annual fall event. And they think that if they pull this off, they'll demonstrate something important -- to potential donors, to the theater community and to audiences. That ``something'' is that serious Spanish-language theater in Miami is growing, deserving of funding and worth savoring.
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CARTELERA TEMFest 2010
OCTUBRE 21 – NOVIEMBRE 21
OCT 21 (JUEVES 7:00 PM): Apertura TEMFest 2010 en el Centro Cultural Español (CCE)** en CCE
OCT 22/23 (VIERNES y SABADO 8:30PM): Teatro en Miami Studio: “Aromas de un Viaje”, escrita y dirigida por Ernesto García * (PLAY IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUPERTITLES) en TEMS
OCT 24 (DOMINGO 5:00 PM): Free Soul Dance Company: “Stories from the Sidewalk” dirigido por Belma Suazo * enTEMS
OCT 27 (MIERCOLES 8:00 PM): Editorial Silueta: Lanzamiento del libro “Teatro Cubano de Miami” * en TEMS
OCT 29/30/31 (VIERNES y SABADO a las 8:30 PM y DOMINGO a las 5:00 PM): Maroma Players/ICRA: “Alguien quiere decir una oración” de José Abreu Felippe dirigido por Rolando Moreno * en TEMS
NOV 3 (MIERCOLES 8: 00 PM): Conferencia: “El Teatro en Miami”: * en TEMSPanelistas: Matías Montes Huidobro: Conferencia: “Los Dramaturgos de Miami” José Abreu Felippe: Conferencia: “Teatro en exilio o el elogio de la locura”. Pedro Pablo Peña: Conferencia: “El crecimiento de la escena teatral de Miami” Moderador: Daniel Fernández
NOV 5/6/7: (VIERNES Y SABADO 8:30 PM - DOMINGO 5:00 PM): HavanaFama Teatro Estudio: “Puerto de Coral” de Mikel Chávez García dirigido por Juan Roca * en TEMS
NOV 10 (MIERCOLES 8:00 PM): El Idearium: “Monologando” de Manuel Mendoza, Alejandro Aragón y Valentina Martínez dirigido por Manuel Mendoza * en TEMS
NOV 12/13/14 (VIERNES y SABADO a las 8:30 PM y DOMINGO a las 5:00 PM): Hispanic Theatre Guild: “Las Heridas del Viento” de Juan Carlos Rubio dirigido por Juan Manuel Cifuentes * en TEMS
NOV 14 (DOMINGO 11:00 AM en el CCE): Cirko Teatro: “El circo de Enriqueta y Agapito” escrita y dirigida por Jessica Álvarez y Alejandro Vale ** en CCE
NOV 14 (DOMINGO 11:00 AM en el CCE): Miami Guiñol: “Insectos y Bicharracos” de Rita Rosa y Julio C. Almaguer dirigido por Carlos Jesús García ** en CCE
NOV 17 (MIERCOLES 8:00 PM): Cirko Teatro: “Destino de dos cosas o de tres” de Rafael Spregelburd dirigido por Alejandro Vale * en TEMS
NOV 19/20(VIERNES Y SABADO 8:30 PM): Galiano 108: “Santa Cecilia” de Abilio Estévez dirigido por José González * en TEMS
NOV 21(DOMINGO 5:00 PM): Closing de TEMFest
*TEMS - Teatro en Miami Studio2500 SW 8 ST, MiamiPH. 305.551.7473
** CCE- Centro Cultural Español800 South Douglas Road #170, Coral Gables
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