The show goes on in Nicaragua

By Joanne Santomauro

Over spring break, six Santa Clara students and several alumni embarked on a journey to Nicaragua to change lives through the theatre arts. Accompanied by Joanne Martin, costume shop director of the Theatre department, this group of students served the town of Villa Catalina through Teatro Catalina, a program under the organization "Amigos for Christ."

"The trip was so great because it reminded me why I do theater and the power it has," said sophomore Amelia Bethel. "Theater is just a way for people to interact with each other and interact with themselves in a way they can't elsewhere and just something that's all them, that they made."

These students, all of whom are pursuing majors or minors in Theatre Arts, worked with Amigos for Christ to put on a thirty-minute production of "A Trip to A Wild Place," a play written by alum Chad Eschman.

The production featured a diverse group of Teatro Catalina's members, whose ages ranged from 12 to 22. Each member played a significant role in the production as set designers, costume designers, actors, and choreographers.

"It was awesome for the kids in Nicaragua," said sophomore Briana Mitchell. "There's nothing really that exists in that community, as far as extracurricular activities. It was really cool to see the youth in the community come together and create this thing."

Mitchell was the driving force behind the trip. Mitchell heard about Amigos' work from Katie Fitzgerald, another Santa Clara alum who currently lives in Nicaragua. During her summer stay, which was originally intended to be a week-long trip, Mitchell decided to extend her stay to six weeks and was immediately captivated by the program.

"Deciding to stay in Nicaragua longer was one of the best decisions of my entire life," said Mitchell.

Mitchell returned to school in the fall, eager to share her experiences with other students. In September, she met with Barbara Murray, Theatre department chair, Caroline Silverman, director of the Justice and the Arts Initiative and Aldo Billingslea, professor in the Theatre department. During their meeting, Mitchell proposed taking a group of students from the Theatre department to Nicaragua during the spring academic holiday. Although she received plenty of support from the department, Mitchell had accepted that the trip might not become a reality until next year.

Nonetheless, at a department-wide meeting, Mitchell invited students to weekly meetings to talk about her experiences with Nicaragua and explore options for visiting in the spring. After a series of meetings and consistent attendance from a handful of students, Mitchell realized the trip could happen much sooner than she had thought.

To Mitchell's surprise, Santa Clara already had connections with Amigos for Christ. Professors in the Justice and the Arts Initiative office helped Fitzgerald in her initial endeavors.

Additionally, the Jesuits at Santa Clara previously donated money to create a stage for Teatro in Nicaragua.

After Mitchell's proposal, the University Development Office showed strong support for the trip, donating $200 to each student. Additionally, at the fundraising event in February, the Theatre department donated $600. In total, the students raised about $1000 that night.

On March 19, the group left for Nicaragua. On the first day they climbed a volcano with the group members from Teatro Catalina.

"That was really cool because we actually brought the kids from the theater down to walk up the volcano with us which was great; we got to know them before we started working with them," said Bethel.

The next day, the volunteers saw the bleaker side of their work — many of those who now live in Villa Catalina came from a tent city housed among the Chinandega dump and sewage system. Amigos for Christ works to move people out of the tent city and into Villa Catalina, where they are provided with safe housing and the opportunity for employment.

Together with the visiting Santa Clara students and alumni, the members of Teatro Catalina made costumes and sets from donated fabric and cardboard. For many of Teatro's members, it was their first encounter with an actual stage backdrop. Throughout the week, they worked together to prepare for the final show.

To further aide the community, Martin left a sewing machine with the organization so they could design and make their own costumes in the future.

For junior Thomas Dang, the most memorable experience of the trip was the final production.

"It started out with us saying, ‘This is the most disorganized thing I've ever done' — it was madness," said Dang. "But the time came for the show and it went flawlessly. When it was done, all the kids were laughing, you know, smiling, eating their cake, and as we were leaving each of them said, ‘Thank you' with tears in their eyes... it was awesome."

Added Mitchell, "It was a cool experience for the students because it was a good chance to learn from the alumni, because they're out in the world doing this... My emphasis is Acting in the Theatre department, so I had never done scene painting or lighting, but I got a chance to help out a little bit in those areas."

Similarly, Bethel felt fortunate to experience theater through Teatro Catalina.

In regards to a future trip to Nicaragua, Mitchell sees definite promise despite a timeline.

"I would love to see the group go back next year. I don't doubt that there will be another trip to Nicaragua, I just don't know when," she said. "I think this partnership with Santa Clara and Teatro Catalina could be something really beautiful."

Contact Joanne at jsantomauro@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.