Pluma y la tempestad.

'Pluma y la tempestad' tells the story of a youngster (who could be a boy or a girl), born in a hostile world, growing up on the streets like a boat adrift, like a feather in the storm ('como pluma en la tempestad'), tossed and turned by the ever-changing gusts of life. It is the story of a marginalized person, exposed to all kinds of dangers, coerced to sell out, to compromise, to resign himself, but still, against all odds, chooses self-affirmation and the development of her own individuality, struggling to survive and go on, recycling the debris left by the storm. 'Pluma' poses a critique on society's political, religious and pedagogical institutions. A strange parable on what it entails being different, misunderstood, marginalized by society, Pluma is also a spiritual hermaphrodite of sorts, a metaphor for the idealist, a subject full of hope but unable to succeed, to express himself, to belong, to be a welcomed member of society. This video documents key excerpts form Malayerba's renowned production. The Grupo de Teatro Malayerba (teatromalayerba.org) was founded in Quito in 1979 by Arístides Vargas, Susana Pautasso and María del Rosario 'Charo' Francés, immigrant actors originally from Argentina and Spain. From the start, Malayerba included actors with various backgrounds and nationalities, invested in the exploration of the rich cultural diversity and complex history of Ecuador, as well as issues of migration, exile, political violence and individual and collective memory. With over 25 years of ongoing theater practice and more than 20 plays performed locally and internationally for a diverse audience, Malayerba is committed to theater pedagogy and experimentation, artistic collaboration, and community building. They have represented Ecuador in national and international theater festivals; they have also collaborated with theater groups within Ecuador and in other countries, and performed for both film and television, while engaging in community work in Quito. In 1989 the group created the Laboratorio Malayerba, committed to the training of generations of young Ecuadorian actors and to an ongoing investigation of theories and practices of experimental theater. In 2001 Malayerba launched the theater journal 'Hoja de Teatro, ' conceived as a forum for the theorization, criticism and dissemination of Ecuadorian theater practices. The group also runs a theater house, the Casa Malayerba, which houses the Laboratory as well as a theater with seating capacity for seventy people. Malayerba approaches theater making as an artistic, ethical and technical realm where to engage in meaningful creative experiences through which to understand, assume and confront current sociopolitical processes. In working together, actors with various backgrounds and nationalities have shown that a multicultural blend is not only possible but also enriching, as differences lead to new identities, embodiments of dreams, memories, absences and pains that are at once local and universal. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics