Theatre group focuses on issues facing Latinos
10/5/2004 10:16:07 AM
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Oct. 4, 2004
Wilmington, N.C. – The University of North Carolina Wilmington will be presenting Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya (FOMMA), a theatre group dealing with social and political issues confronting Latinos at home and abroad, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, in King Hall Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
FOMMA was founded 10 years ago to offer a center in San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, for Indian women and children displaced from their communities due to their biracial heritage. Fleeing social, political and economic distress, they arrived in the city illiterate and monolingual, victims of a citizenry which disdained them. Their crippling fear and sense of worthlessness is a cycle FOMMA tried to arrest through an innovative model using workshops and classes in bilingual education, job skills, health and theatre.
The women who comprise FOMMA write plays both individually and collectively. The themes usually focus on social issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence, machismo and migration to the city. They perform in San Cristóbal, as well as tour in the Indian communities throughout Mexico and abroad when funding is available.
More information can be found at http://www.geocities.com/brendanorrell/.
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