Interview with Santiago García, conducted by Mila Aponte-González, during the 7th Encuentro of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, held in August of 2009 in Bogotá, Colombia under the title Staging Citizenship: Cultural Rights in the Americas. In this interview, Santiago García talks about his take on how his particular performance-related work makes a political intervention in the public sphere. This interview complements Teatro La Candelaria's performance A título personal, showcased in this 10-day event, which brought together activism, scholarship, and art around the themes of legacies, memories, struggles, and frontiers of citizenship.

Biography

Santiago García is a renowned Colombian actor, playwright, theater director, and educator born in 1928. He has been the director of Teatro La Candelaria since 1966 when it was founded by a group of independent artists and intellectuals. Engaged in an ongoing exploration of national folklore, events, and characters, much of their repertoire was created using the 'collective creation' method. La Candelaria also fostered the creation of the Corporación Colombiana de Teatro and has developed a number of theoretical works that reflect upon dramatic creation, its methods and languages.