La razón blindada.

Rosa Luisa Márquez (www.marquezmartorell.org) is a Puerto Rican theater artist and pedagogue. Founding member of the theater group Anamú in 1971, she holds a Master's degree from New York University and a Doctorate from Michigan State University; she specializes in contemporary theater. Rosa Luisa started her teaching career at the Theater department of the University of Puerto Rico in 1978. She developed the current curriculum of Drama Activities, which she teaches in her workshops at schools, prisons, rehab centers, women's shelters, nursing homes and community centers. Her directing projects include 'Romeo(s) y Julieta(s), ' 'Historias para ser Contadas, ' 'La Leyenda del Cemí, ' 'Procesión, ' 'Waiting for Godot, ' 'Jardín de Pulpos, ' 'Absurdos en Soledad, ' 'El León y la Joya, ' among others. In conjunction with Puerto Rican visual artist Antonio Martorell, she created the concept of Itinerant Performers (1987-1990) resulting in twelve productions. Published books include 'Brincos y saltos: el juego como disciplina teatral' and 'Historias para ser contadas, montaje de Rosa Luisa Márquez.' She is a member of the board of directors and pedagogical team for the EITALC's International School of Latin American and Caribbean Theater. Ongoing artistic collaborators include Gilda Navarra and Antonio Martorell (Puerto Rico), Grupo Malayerba (Ecuador), Grupo Yuyachkani (Peru), and directors Peter Shumann (Bread & Puppet Theater, U.S.A.) and Augusto Boal (Theater of the Oppressed, Brazil). This video documents the theater piece 'La razón blindada, ' written by Argentinean playwright Arístides Vargas and directed in Puerto Rico by Márquez, as a part of her ongoing artistic collaboration with Ecuadorean theater collective Malayerba (of which Vargas is director and founding member). Inspired by the 400th anniversary of the publication of Cervantes' 'El Quijote, ' by Kafka's writings on Quixote and Sancho, and by the strategies of survival of political prisoners during Argentina's Dirty War (more specifically, the actual experiences of Vargas' brother, Chicho), 'La razón' is a piece about imprisonment, madness, storytelling and solidarity. In this staging by Márquez, the text is adapted to the Puerto Rican reality, exploring issues of political imprisonment that links pervasive Latin American political atrocities to selective profiling, political persecution, and the complex colonial condition of Puerto Rico. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics