A theater class in which the roles of teacher and student were swapped brought together Luis and Marina de Tavira with art and culture coordinators, Zapatista theater makers, and Subcomandante Moisés of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).
There was method and technique for those who say they work “off the cuff,” but also a lesson flowing the other way: “here lies an absolute lesson in collectivity,” stated Marina de Tavira after witnessing the two performances of *El común y el día después* (The Common and the Day After).
The play, performed by 240 young Zapatistas, was part of the “Arts Under Siege” (*Las artes bajo acoso*) workshop series—covering dance, film, and theater—held at the Indigenous Center for Integral Training (Cideci) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
Captain Marcos described the events of those days as “an act of magic.” In a corner of Cideci, “a conspiratorial meeting was taking place among theater makers from different geographies, calendars, languages, colors, and histories. A theater class where the roles of teacher and student were constantly being exchanged.”
It was there that a meeting took place between Luis and Marina de Tavira on one side, and Subcomandante Moisés, art and culture coordinators, and Zapatista theater makers on the other. “In other words, you could say we made a little home for them.”
Moisés recounted how the playwright and stage director shared tools with them that they hadn’t known before. “Comrade Luis de Tavira taught us the method, the form, and the technique, and he helped us a hell of a lot to understand how an actor or actress should move so we don’t just stand there like statues.”
The Zapatistas work “off the cuff.” “What we know is that we are going to show what we think.”
“The theater we Zapatistas create, we create in common.” The process begins among the 12 *Caracoles*: coordinators propose the theme, gather ideas, discuss the sequence of scenes, and draft an initial outline. Then, they call upon the actors and actresses, explain the concept, and begin rehearsals.
Contributions continue throughout the process. Each group takes its assigned section to practice within its own *Caracol*, and later, the 12 groups reconvene. “That’s when further contributions arise, and a shared vision of how we’ll perform it begins to emerge.”
The learning process worked both ways. Marina de Tavira spoke of the “profound joy” she felt during those days and of the gift the Zapatistas had given her.
“It is beautiful to witness the living legacy of a dream; you embody that legacy. You have made it your own and live it out,” she stated during the panel dedicated to theater.
After the two performances of *El común y el día después* (The Common and the Day After), the actress found a lesson in the Zapatista work for those who create theater in other contexts. “There is an absolute lesson here about the collective—that this theater is created in common, not merely in intention or words. They hold up a mirror to us that is deeply challenging. In you, I saw the embodiment of hope.”
Ofelia Medina extended that reflection to the joy of creating with others. “The creation of collective art is the joy of humanity—both present and future.
“I found meaning in my life thanks to the Zapatista communities and this movement,” the actress affirmed.
For Medina, the theater of Luis de Tavira—both the work done here and what they managed to achieve—is part of “creation and of the humanity that refuses to stop believing we are capable of creating a better world. Collective joy is what is generated here.” She also addressed the Zapatistas’ decision to join forces with the “searching mothers” (*madres buscadoras*) and described the country’s situation as “terrifying.”
During the same panel, Luis de Tavira discussed the relationship between the stage, thought, and society. “Theater is the fruit of thought.” “That is why it is important to think—and, in thinking, not just think *anything*, because from that thought arises action, and not just *any* action.”
Although “theater does not change reality at all—or at least does not immediately change the price of bread”—the playwright maintained that “it has decisively shaped the history of humanity. Theater can only be understood in its relationship—whatever that may be—with society. We should not forget that the true work of art is society itself.”
In closing, he placed part of the future of that art form in the hands of those he had just been observing. “It will depend on all theater makers, but decisively on these young newcomers and on collective organization.”
