Teatro
La Máscara is the oldest —and one of the only— feminist,
all-women's theater ensembles in Colombia. Founded in 1972 in Cali, La
Máscara was a political group initially comprised of male as well
as female actors, and worked very closely with playwright/director Enrique
Buenaventura and the Teatro Experimental de Cali (TEC). By the early 1980s,
however, the ensemble underwent a radical transformation when all the
men left the group. Seeing that it was the women who stayed and wanted
to continue their theatrical trajectory, Director Lucy Bolaños
seized the opportunity and decided to make La Máscara a women's
theater fully dedicated to gender issues. They have stayed true to this
mission, despite the many social, administrative, and financial pressures
they've had to endure in an environment plagued by violence and machismo,
which constantly seeks to "invisibilize" their work. Because of their
fruitful stubbornness, La Máscara is still alive and kicking, not
only creating and staging plays, but also working with marginalized communities,
actively participating in political protests and demonstrations, and being
involved in the organization of theater festivals. In September 2002 —celebrating
their 30th anniversary— they organized and hosted the Magdalena Pacífica
International Women's Theater Festival, a city-wide 10-day event whose
main theme was re-thinking women's role in construction of a peaceful
Colombia. I admire these women profoundly. In this site are two articles
I wrote and published about them, as well as some photographs from my
last visit to their theater.
