Celebrate the Day of the Dead with coLAB and AXIS Events at The Old Globe

The Old Globe believes that theatre matters, and our work each day is to make theatre matter to more people. We invite friends and families to celebrate the great Mexican tradition Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) with a weekend full of unique activities and artistic expression, as well as three premiere performances of a community-generated theatre piece.

For the second year in a row, two of the Globe's signature arts engagement programs-coLAB and AXIS-unite in the spirit of creative community collaboration to share the artistry created there. A six-week coLAB workshop with City Heights's community member participants and local artists, hosted by Globe Teaching Artist Katherine Harroff and guest director/co-creator Daniel Jáquez, will culminate in the premiere performances of La Muerte Descansa en Paz (Death Rests in Peace), to be presented three times over the weekend, in both English and Español.

The initial coLAB performance of La Muerte Descansa en Paz will take place at SAY San Diego's City Heights Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) Celebration on Saturday, October 28 at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park (3795 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92105). The event will include dancing, singing, music, Aztec dancers, and other performances, as well as a display of community altars, face painting, mask making, and prizes for the best Catrina and Catrin costumes. It will run from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a performance of La Muerte Descansa en Paz at
2:00 p.m.

The free AXIS Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) Celebration will take place on Sunday, October 29 on the Globe's Copley Plaza in Balboa Park. This participatory event for the whole family will touch upon some of the traditions that encompass this celebration of deceased loved ones. It will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with La Muerte Descansa en Paz at 12:00 noon (en Español) and 1:00 p.m. (in English). Hosted by Crystal Mercado, the event will include traditional face painting by Laura Aparicio, a soundscape curated by Patrick Hernandez (aka DJ Melao), large interactive props, and the opportunity for audience members to join in for an open mic moment.

Sunday's AXIS celebration will precede the 2:00 p.m. matinee of acclaimed actor and playwright James Lecesne's tour-de-force one-man show, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey.

"These two arts engagement programs really get to what is happening at the Globe, which is making theatre matter to more people while strengthening the connections between our neighbors and our institution," said Globe Director of Arts Engagement Freedome Bradley-Ballentine. "We want to open the doors to creativity through theatre-based activities that encourage direct participation in art making. While AXIS opens Copley Plaza up to our Balboa Park neighbors, coLAB makes art in communities, bringing together artist of various levels and skills to tell stories that are important, innovative, participatory, and multigenerational."

Daniel Jáquez (Director/Co-creator) is an award-winning director, translator, and producer whose work has been seen throughout New York City, across the U.S., and around the world. Mr. Jáquez, a graduate of the A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard University, is an Advisory Committee member for Lark Play Development Center's México/United States Playwright Exchange and a member of the Latina/o Theatre Commons Steering Committee. He was Interim Artistic Director of Milagro Theatre in Portland, Oregon, and Director of INTAR Theatre's NewWorks Lab, and he is currently Director of UNIT52, INTAR's acting company. He is Co-Founder of Calpulli Mexican Dance Company in New York and has served as a panelist at Theatre Communications Group, National Endowment for the Arts, and New Dramatists. Mr. Jáquez grew up in Ciudad Juárez, México. www.DanielJaquez.com.

Katherine Harroff is an Arts Engagement Programs Associate with The Old Globe. She helped develop Community Voices in 2012 and has instructed over 400 adults in the San Diego community and beyond in finding their voices in theatre. In 2016 she spearheaded the first coLAB project by curating the first production of The Living Altar. Ms. Harroff has her M.F.A. from Arizona State University in Performance Studies with an emphasis in Community-Based Theatre and Playwriting. She is the Artistic Director and head playwright for the not-for-profit, community-based Production Company Circle Circle dot dot. She has written and produced over 50 original community-based scripts and installation projects through her company and in residence with Arizona State University, San Diego State University, University of San Diego, UC San Diego, and several theatre companies across the U.S. She was named one of San Diego Magazine's "People to Watch" in 2013, and The San Diego Union-Tribune honored her with the same title in 2014.

DJ Melao, also known as Patrick Hernandez, is the Director of Melómano Entertainment and Dance in San Diego, a dance company that offers some of the best salsa and bachata group lessons, private lessons, wedding choreography, and dance team training, as well as hosts some of San Diego's best dance socials.

Laura Aparicio is Program Manager at A Reason to Survive (ARTS), one of the partners for Globe for All. Ms. Ms. Aparicio was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2007 she graduated from California State University, San Marcos with a bachelor's in Visual and Performing Arts. Ms. Aparicio has worked on and off as a freelance artist and has worked for Kaman's Arts at SeaWorld and Susu's Body Art. In 2016 she graduated from San Diego State University with a master's in Science-Counseling. At ARTS, Ms. Aparicio manages the Student Services Department and teaches art classes for youth and families, and she continues to do freelance work.

SAY San Diego partnerships and services (including the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Prevention Program) address the comprehensive needs of the entire individual or family rather than focusing on one symptom or problem. SAY encourages the community to work collaboratively and coordinates with systems such as law enforcement, schools, and local government to create positive change. SAY's holistic approach enriches youth, empowers individuals and families, and engages communities.

City Heights is a large community in San Diego, California, known for its ethnic diversity. Along its main streets, one can find Hispanic, Northeast African, Near Eastern, South Asian, and Southeast Asian immigrant businesses.

coLAB and AXIS are programs supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.

One of the ways The Old Globe's Arts Engagement team exemplifies its mission to make theatre matter to more people is through a program called AXIS, where free cultural programs on the Globe's Copley Plaza are led by local artists and craftspeople. 9.5 million visitors pass through Balboa Park each year. The Old Globe strives to engage this population as we transform our non-performance space into a participatory art venue, utilizing the Globe's unique physical location as an opportunity for connectivity and creative placemaking. AXIS is an effort to broaden our concept of audience, extending beyond regular ticket-holders and encompassing diverse, multigenerational constituencies from communities across San Diego County.

coLAB is a program designed to elevate the voices of San Diegans through a collaborative art-making process where the community members become the artists, turning their own stories into theatre. It is a six-week program with the purpose of creating collaborative and original performance presentations for a community festival event involving the participants.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdooR Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre's artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, Meteor Shower, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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