La Jornada: They celebrate 45 years of the most important theater research and information center in the country

The Rodolfo Usigli Theater Research, Documentation and Information Center (Citru) will celebrate its 45th anniversary by being the main headquarters for the professionalization of studies on dramaturgy, creation and pedagogy of that art in our country. As part of the celebration, conferences, dialogue tables, meetings with students and seminars will be held on Wednesdays in July at the National Center for the Arts (Cenart).

In this regard, Rocío Galicia, director of Citru, spoke about these activities, the situation of theater in Mexico, the needs and the plurality of content in the face of this new impulse, the result of the efforts of stage creators:

“This research center was founded from the donation of Armando de Maré Campos’ archive, later more others were added and that allowed us to build the most important documentation and knowledge center in the country. During the first years we focused a lot on the organization of these collections, now we have many more tools to talk about the great personalities that we place as part of our theatrical history,” he states.

Among the activities, the dialogue table “Sweetness, political scenes and affections” stands out, which will be held on July 15 and will reflect on the role that dramaturgy and interpretation have as a tool to address social problems such as violence, forced disappearance and discrimination. Rocío Galicia, María Sánchez, Pablo Tepichín and Michel Cruz will participate in the talk, moderated by Lucía Leonor Enríquez.

“I see using theater to create empathy in the face of terrible situations that have affected our society as something very necessary. Understanding and capturing the different contexts of violence and injustice on stage is key to generating a culture of peace. We can better understand the victims when we see a close interaction with the public; for example, the case of the play that Cristina Rivera Garza created about the feminicide of her sister and which was adapted to the theater.”

Representations of indigenous peoples

The performance conference “Detheologizing the academy: A philosophical feast” will also be presented, in which the importance of the professionalization of theater education and the challenge of training more academics who study the history of dramaturgy in Mexico, including the theater practiced by indigenous peoples, will be discussed.

“There are many studies that have emerged to discover the secrets of Nahuatl theater, what we can say about this form of pre-Hispanic dramatic interpretation. Today we know that there was a representation of rituals, cosmogonies and other creations that we could call scenic and that are close to what we call theater. That is why research is important, in order not to close ourselves in a theoretical framework that comes only from the West.”

Another relevant point is the increase in the presence of women in the theater scene: playwrights, actresses, producers, costume designers and choreographers, among other roles. In this regard, Rocío Galicia explained: “when Citru was created in 1981, its first director was a woman, Margarita Mendoza López, from then on many researchers have passed through these classrooms who have been fundamental to preserve, discover and understand the work of theater in Mexico, especially that which was erased simply for having come from female work.”

In this area, the open microphone installation also stands out. Presences and resonances: Presentation of the #MujeresCITRU campaign in which, among other creators, Estela Leñero, Ana Luz Egan and Leticia Rodríguez will participate.

Rocío Galicia also highlighted the collection of digitized documents that can be consulted on the Citru website. “We have experienced a transformation because now with these materials we have better dissemination: fast and free access.”

The center houses the largest specialized theater collection in Mexico. This archive, available for public consultation and which includes photographs, sketches, hand programs and scripts, documents the creative processes and trajectories of distinguished figures on the national scene.

For the specialist, the current objective is to produce more academics and experts who, hand in hand with performers and actors, can work with the aim of creating a much more complete record of the theatrical discipline in Mexico.

Throughout its history, Citru has published more than a hundred titles that have contributed to a better appreciation of the legacy of emblematic groups and people of Mexican theater, such as Zopilote, Cleta, Contigo América, Esperanza Iris, Seki Sano, Elena Garro, Ludwik Margules, María Luisa Ocampo and Jesús González Dávila. His research covers a wide range of topics, from the theatricality of pre-Hispanic rituals to the contemporary challenges of performance Mexican.

Regarding the investigation of theatrical phenomena, Citru has five active lines of research: Documentary studies; Theatre, culture and education; History of theater in Mexico, Bodies, borders and violence; and Performativity and liminal spaces. These lines, in addition to articulating the research that becomes publications or other forms of socialization of knowledge, structure the master’s degree in theater research and supply theoretical-methodological inputs to the doctorate in arts of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature.

The complete program of activities for the 45th anniversary of Citru can be consulted at https://citru.inba.gob.mx