Por Amor is a project that unites Cubans and Americans through artistic collaboration. It is organized by young artists in both countries between the ages of 27 and 32 who are exploring creative ways to transcend political barriers imposed between us. Through the internet we have built an alliance with our Cuban collaborators to develop an experimental play/video performance, blending artistic ideas and traditions from both countries. Cuban performers will be transported into US theaters via video projection. Our goal is to build friendship with our “enemies” through art.
The Closest Farthest Away, a hybrid of theater and cinema, is the first collaborative production of Project Por Amor. This August through October 2007, the playwright, video artist, and composer will legally travel to Cuba to complete the script and shoot video content with Cuban collaborators. We ask for your help to make this trip in August-October possible.
SYNOPSIS
A man and a woman are being interrogated. One is from the United States, the other from Cuba. They are trying to piece together the story of how they met, fell in love and are able to travel to each other's countries without planes or boats but simply through doors and windows. A love story full of mystery, dreams and hope that crosses borders both physically and psychologically.
PERFORMANCE PARADIGM
The Closest Farthest Away is the first of its kind — an innovation in cultural connection between two enemy nations combining theater and cinema to expand upon our notions of multi-media performance. While most performances use video as scenic design or to intensify the moment via live camera, The Closest Farthest Away uses video to create a digital world that a live performer interacts with. Tapping into the physical presence of live performance and the defiance of space and time of cinema, we create an impossible world — one in which Cubans and Americans exist together on the same stage. The Trading with the Enemy Act currently denies visas for Cuban artists to perform in the US. Video projection is a solution to transport Cuban performers into US theaters while dramatizing the barriers of exchange between our two countries.
SET DESIGN
The set design is simple: two 7.5x11 ft rear projection screens and a TV on a moveable cart. One American actor on stage will interact with the projected images and TV, while stage hands manipulate the orientation of the screens and TV to keep the space alive. Click to see images from test shoots to you give an idea of our vision.
The single live performer plays the role of the foreigner in Cuba and interacts on stage with a world of video symbolizing the divide between our two countries.
COLLABORATIVE PROCESS
The Closest Farthest Away is developed between Americans and Cubans to create a story that reflects contemporary ideas with personal insight from both American and Cuban points of view. The collaborative process creates an interdisciplinary approach where the artists from different mediums contribute ideas to all facets of the performance.
The script is written by Joy Tomasko and Agnieska Hernández Díaz, with additional input by Video Artist Aleigh Lewis, Musical Director Sage Lewis, Theater Director Chi-wang Yang, and Production Manager Yasef Ananda. Binational collaboration happens via the internet until late summer and autumn when we get to work together in Havana as one large group.
Our mission is to create a cultural exchange between artists from the United States and Cuba; to explore innovative performance forms and ways of combining elements of video, dance, theater, and music in symbolic ways; to establish a model for international collaboration between American and Latin American people; to use art and technology to create positive globalization that promotes international understanding in the 21st Century; and to take on one of the world's greatest challenges by doing all this between two enemy nations.
