Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT) Partnership

The Old Globe
Is Proud to Announce
a Binational Partnership with New Community Partner
CENTRO CULTURAL TIJUANA (CECUT),
in Tijuana, Mexico

PHOTO EDITORS: Photos about this partnership can be found here.

SAN DIEGO (May 26, 2022) – The Old Globe is proud to announce a binational partnership with a new community partner, Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), in Tijuana, Mexico. In the Globe’s efforts to increase accessibility to programming and productions, The Old Globe commits to make theatre matter to more people, including our neighboring communities south of the border. As part of this new partnership, the Globe will offer to CECUT’s community partners the theatre design workshop series Behind the Curtain—Detrás del Telón when offered in Spanish—and the Globe for All Tour of Mala, both administered by program manager Laura Zee and coordinated by teaching artist and binational theatre artist Valeria Vega, who paved the way for this partnership to become a reality. The tour will bring the Globe’s moving production of Mala, after its five-week run at The Old Globe, to Tijuana with a phenomenal performance in Spanish by actor Yadira Correa. All programs at CECUT will be offered fully in Spanish. The Globe hopes to develop more opportunities for audiences at CECUT in the near future and together create impactful connections in the booming and diverse communities that Tijuana, our sister city, hosts.

“The Globe’s commitment to making theatre matter to more people now extends beyond San Diego,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “It’s an honor and a real joy to announce our partnership with CECUT, the most prominent and celebrated arts-and-culture organization in Tijuana. Ours is a binational region, and the Globe is proud to expand San Diego’s cross-border relationships into the realm of the theatre, a form that by its very nature builds community and togetherness. We thank the leadership and staff of CECUT and the Mexican Consulate for making this possible, and we look forward to a bright future of great work together.”

“One of the main lines of work of the federal government through the Secretary of Culture is community work and the direct connection between artists and the population under the premise that what is important is the art, the creators, and its audiences,” said Centro Cultural Tijuana’s General Director Dr. Vianka Robles Santana. “From this perspective, the Centro Cultural Tijuana works with vulnerable sectors of the population in 81 sites since 2019 to now, with 157 workshops in plastic and visual arts; performing arts such as theatre, dance, urban dance, and movement; music with guitar, jaranas, singing, and music introduction; and socioemotional literature and the revitalization of the original people’s traditions. This is why we celebrate the shared objectives and join in the enthusiasm of this initiative with The Old Globe, which we are pleased to tie into the commemoration of the 200 years of the diplomatic relationships between the United States and Mexico. This alliance brings the possibility of being an open space for artistic developments and expressions for all communities, being, most of the times, the first contact with some artistic discipline for many who arrive to Tijuana with a background story. No matter their story, there is a stage and resources to make it into theatre, into dance, to manifest something that wants to be shared through the body and senses, and use it as the driving force for transformation of themselves and their environment.”

Behind the Curtain, orDetrás del Telón when offered in Spanish, is a free series of workshops that offers a chance to explore the magic of creating a theatrical production. Through interactive workshops with industry professionals, participants, part of CECUT’s community partner Jardín de las Mariposas, a rehabilitation center and a shelter for migrants and refugees from the LGBTTTI community, will be introduced to a different design discipline each week, including costumes, sets, sound, lighting, and props. Guest artists, along with Globe teaching artists, will provide unique insight and lead participants in hands-on activities, teaching the principles of design while offering practical and transferable skills. This unique experience guides participants for six weeks and is led by teaching artists Mayte Martínez and Valeria Vega.

After its five-week run on The Old Globe’s stage, Mala will travel on an exciting Globe for All Tour at multiple locations across San Diego County, and, for the first time, to Tijuana, Mexico. The tour will present Mala in Spanish at CECUT in Tijuana, Mexico on Sunday, June 19 at 2:00 p.m. for a select audience of community partners who might otherwise not experience a theatrical production or have access to cross to the United States. There will be limited seating for general audiences. Those interested can RSVP to arteycultura@cecut.gob.mx.

Mala is the story of a woman who had always been the good daughter. But now her mother, in the twilight of her life, calls her “mala”—bad to the core. Melinda Lopez’s funny, brutally honest, and ultimately cathartic solo play Mala is an irreverent exploration of how we live, cope, and survive in a challenging moment, and what happens when we strive to be good but don’t always succeed. TheaterMania calls it “deeply affecting,” while The Boston Globe named it “one of the best plays of the year. Piercingly honest and exquisitely moving.”

“Funny, honest, and moving.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune

“A beautiful and personal memory play… brings beauty, empathy, and humor to an intensely difficult period.”
—BroadwayWorld

“A breathtaking solo piece. Surprising, compassionate, and often even funny. Mala is a piece that should be seen.”
—San Diego Stage and Screen

In addition to director David Dower, the creative team for the Globe’s production of Mala includes scenic design by Alexander V. Nichols, costume design by Faith A. James, lighting design by Jason Lynch, original music and sound design by Arshan Gailus, casting by Caparelliotis Casting, and production stage management by Jynelly Rosario.

Mala, written by Melinda Lopez, originally opened in 2016 at ArtsEmerson in Boston. The world premiere was directed by David Dower and performed by Lopez.

Behind the Curtain is supported in part byPrice Philanthropies, Qualcomm, U.S. Bank, and Viasat. Globe Teaching Artists are supported in part by the Ann Davies Fund for Teaching Artists.

Malais supported by production sponsor Globe Guilders. Mala is a recipient of a 2022 Social Impact Theatre Grant from The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation. Financial support for The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities.

Spanish translation licensed by Audible.

Bios and photos of all participants can be found at www.TheOldGlobe.org/Press-Room.

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 87th year, the Globe is San Diego’s flagship performing arts institution, and it serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and the Audrey S. Geisel Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 16 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages, including its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people annually attend Globe productions and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Its nationally prominent Arts Engagement Department provides an array of participatory programs that make theatre matter to more people in neighborhoods throughout the region. Humanities programs at the Globe and around the city broaden the community’s understanding of theatre art in all its forms. The Globe also boasts a range of new play development programs with professional and community-based writers, as well as the renowned The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Numerous world premieres—such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!—have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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