LACA Theatre Group
Our Beginnings
LACA's theatre group was born from the initiative and desire of community individuals willing to work, learn and have lots of fun in an extremely supportive, dedicated and friendly group of amateur actors.
Our the very successful first theatre production was the pioneering "bilingual community theatre" experience, "El Conventillo de la Paloma" at Kulcha in 1999. The play, a traditional Argentinean "sainete" (comedy like style) was adapted by Omar Pumar Romay and Rina Sani, who were artists in residence in Perth during the rehearsals and the actual performances (6 shows with a full house in Kulcha). It tells the story of the early migrants to Argentina, where many families had to share the one boarding house with all the relationships, love, hatred, conspiracy, jealousy,etc that were built under such circumstances. After that, the group continued attending a weekly workshops led by Miguel Cayazaya. This resulted in the preparation for sketch presentations at some of LACA's events including the Latin Perspective art exhibition and also was a part of the annual Conference of the Ethnic Communities Council held in Fremantle and Laca’s own Latin Extravaganza functions.
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The second major production was "Dreaming Don Quijote", written by Rina Sani and also directed by Omar Pumar Romay, inspired in the most classic Spanish written work: "Don Quijote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. This was an hilarious dynamic multicultural theatre experience incorporating Masks, Dance and Puppets based on the life of an impractical idealist bent on righting incorrigible wrongs and was proudly sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Interests. About Dreaming DON QUIJOTE, Omar said "Our perception of 'reality' is, at the best of times, manipulated by the surrounding media and propaganda and sometimes triggered by our own imagination and fantasies. We don't realise the fine lines between what is real and what is not. Thus, justice could be a result of our imagination." Omar Pumar Romay (2001).
Summary of Activities 2005
During this period the group got up and running. Firstly under the direction of Jenine McCoy, who run a series of theatre workshops (including voice, dramatisation, improvisation techniques) at Ozdance. Later, the group has been meeting regularly under the direction of Jaime Wilson and rehearsing two short stories by Dario Fo, Italian play writer, which they plan to put on stage early in 2006. A poetry recital in Spanish, Latino Profundo was successfully presented at Kulcha in December.
Contact Information
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in Theatre or have an interest in exploring new possibilities in this field, improvisation, acting, voice? Give us a ring to find out more about our group and what our current activities and workshops are. You will be most welcomed and surprised to discover what your hidden skills are and how good it feels to express yourself through this art form. People from all cultural backgrounds and languages are welcome. Workshops are run in English.
For further information please do not hesitate to email us.