Santa Ana Residents Invited to Share Stories That Will Inspire a Play

South Coast Repertory (SCR), in partnership with Latino Health Access (LHA), will host Días de Diálogos (Dialogue Days) on three Fridays this month: May 17, at El Salvador Center, May 24, at Santa Anita Center and May 31, at Logan Center. The dialogues are opportunities for Santa Ana residents to share and listen to stories as part of the ongoing project, Dialogue/Diálogos.

Dialogue/Diálogos is a two-year bilingual theatre community-based initiative with Santa Ana's Latino community. Diálogos will have three phases: story-gathering, play-making workshops and play-development. In the first phase, a series of free storytelling events, Días de Diálogos, are facilitated by playwright-in-residence José Cruz González. In the second phase, Gonzalez and SCR educators will teach working with stories, stage format, design and basic theatrical skills through workshops that will be open to the community. Finally, Gonzalez will turn the collected stories into a play and participants will be part of the full theatrical production, which will be presented in 2014.

"The response from the community has been overwhelming," said Diálogos Engagement Director Sara Guerrero. "So far, participation is exceeding our expectations at every storytelling event. Our goal was to have 30 participants at the first Día de Diálogos, and we kept spreading the circle until the number of chairs doubled!"

"My heart was filled with emotion as I reflected on the question, 'What is the most beautiful thing about Santa Ana?'" explained participant Angela Apodaca about one of the questions at a Día de Diálogos. "My community of Santa Ana is so unique and full of vitality, how could I walk by without stopping to hear its stories?"

Días de Diálogos in May continue the story-gathering phase, which started in March.

"As we began to engage the community of Santa Ana we are learning so much about place, memories, family and the incredible will to survive despite many challenges," said González, who launched SCR's earlier Hispanic Playwrights Project.

How to Participate

Both Spanish and English speakers are welcome to participate in Días de Diálogos. No theatre experience is necessary and there is no advance registration.

Playwright José Cruz González and a team of teaching artists from South Coast Repertory guide the event with questions and storytelling exercises, in both English and Spanish, to keep the conversation lively.

SCR and LHA provide refreshments and free childcare at Días de Diálogos sites.

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