Latin-American Canadian Talent @ Alameda

Actor turned producer and founder of the Alameda Theatre Company, Marilo Nunez is an expert at putting a positive face on a negative situation. Mercado News recently had the opportunity to speak with Marilo about how the stereotypes she faced as an actor led her to establish a theatre company dedicated to showcasing Latin-American Canadian talent.   

Starting out, Stereotypes and Shocks

“I started out as an actor, I went to theatre school, I did the whole film and television thing and what I saw was a [lack of awareness] about Latin American culture, a [lack of awareness] of the talent that existed in our community and I was shocked. I thought ‘I can’t be in an industry that doesn’t respect me and my culture’. I couldn’t believe that in Canada in 2004 that something like that would be happening.”  

Turning Negatives into Positives

“It took me some time to come to a place where I thought ‘I'm not going to dwell on the negative, I'm going to turn this around and make it a positive’. So I started Alameda so that I [could] give opportunity to Latin-American artists, so that I [could] give playwrights the opportunity to write stories that are not stereotypical of our culture, so that I could make a difference and make a change.”

Alameda: An Avenue for Latin Voices

Founded in 2006, Marilo formed Alameda Theatre Company as a response to the lack of quality, professional Latin-American Canadian theatre in Toronto. An avenue for Latin voices, Alameda Theatre Company aims to become a viable artistic network of professional Latin-American Canadian theatre artists in Canada. Marilo goes on to explain the significance of the theatre’s name:  

The Spirit of Salvadore Alende

“There is a history behind the name Alameda. One of the last things [deposed president] Salvadore Allende, said to the Chilean people in 1973 was, “Sigan ustedes sabiendo que, mucho más temprano que tarde, de nuevo abrirán las grandes alamedas por donde pase el hombre libre para construir una sociedad mejor”. (Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society). So the company was going to be an avenue for Latin voices, a walk, a way forward… I believe that the time Salvador Allende spoke of is coming, but we still have a lot of work to do; although we are moving in the right direction our world is still very far from being free. I feel very lucky to be living in Canada to have the freedom to put on political plays.”

The Refugee Hotel and De Colores Festival

The critical success of Alameda’s most recent production Carmen Aguirre’s The Refugee Hotel – a moving portrayal of a group of Chilean political refugees who arrive at a Vancouver residential hotel in 1974 shortly after Chile’s bloody military coup – has proven that there is an audience for and an interest in Latino theatre. Next up for Alameda: the 3rd Annual De Colores Festival, a celebration of established and emerging playwrights which seeks to provide developmental support for works in progress by pairing the chosen playwrights with professional dramaturgs from Toronto's theatre community. Scripts selected for the 2010 De Colores Festival will receive support and a workshop period that will culminate in a staged reading in September 2010.  For more information on submitting scripts and the latest festival updates visit www.alamedatheatre.com/decolores.htm