IN CONVERSATION
What: UVic Distinguished Alumni Talk: Mercedes B谩tiz-Ben茅t
Where:
When: Monday, March 29, 12 p.m.
Admission: Free (must register to join)
Playwright, author and advocate Mercedes B谩tiz-Ben茅t is being given a chance to tell her story 鈥� past and present 鈥� as part of the ongoing Distinguished Alumni Series at the University of Victoria next week.
B谩tiz-Ben茅t will also have the opportunity to shed some light on her future, which she is hoping will have a significant impact on the arts in Greater Victoria through a number of new equality-based initiatives. 鈥淚 hope that this talk inspires other leaders and organizations to support IBPoC (Indigenous, Black, people of colour) voices, newcomer voices, female and gender-diverse voices and any and all underrepresented voices,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e can all do more to create the community 鈥� that truly represents the people that make this beautiful and truly diverse country we are privileged to call home.鈥�
B谩tiz-Ben茅t, the artistic director of Victoria鈥檚 Puente Theatre, will participate in a Zoom webinar on Monday moderated by UVic鈥檚 associate dean of fine arts, Adam Con. The event, which is open to the public and being presented free of charge, will be followed by a question-and-answer period with registrants.
鈥淚t is a great combination of person and topic,鈥� said John Threlfall of UVic, whose faculty of fine arts and alumni relations is organizing the event. 鈥淧uente was doing IBPoC work before the phrase was even out there. It鈥檚 a great example of a theatre company that has been pushing for years.鈥�
B谩tiz-Ben茅t, who is Mexican-Canadian, has co-created a full range of new projects, which she will discuss Monday. The initiatives have been funded in part by $15,000 in prize money she received in October from the Greater Victoria Regional Arts Awards. The JayMac Outstanding Production Award was given to B谩tiz-Ben茅t and Puente Theatre for its production of Fado: The Saddest Music in the World, which she directed.
The projects include: conVERGE, a micro-residency and mentorship program with Intrepid Theatre for emerging and early-career IBPoC artists; Bridging the Gap, a one-time residency with funding from the Victoria Foundation鈥檚 gender equity fund for female and gender-diverse IBPoC and/or new playwrights; and the Victoria chapter of Vancouver鈥檚 The 3.7% Initiative, which helps women who self-identify as ethnically and culturally diverse find greater success in the performing arts.
She has also transformed WorkPlay from a small series into an annual residency for two emerging Victoria playwrights writing about identity, with up to eight months of dramaturgical support, up to 40 hours of studio time, a $1,500 honorarium and a public reading of the finished play.
鈥淎s members of our community, we advocate for inclusion, we facilitate connections, we bring people together,鈥� she said of Puente Theatre.
B谩tiz-Ben茅t arrived in sa国际传媒 in 1997. At UVic, she studied poetry, drama, journalism, philosophy and film, eventually graduating with a writing degree. She has worked as everything from an actor to puppeteer in the years since, winning the Distinguished Alumni Award from UVic鈥檚 faculty of fine arts in 2015.
The multi-disciplinarian joined award-winning authors Esi Edugyan, Carla Funk and Eden Robinson on the school鈥檚 list of decorated alumni, and she has gone on to receive accolades across the country in multiple mediums.
鈥淲e think people will be really interested in hearing about the life experience of a really talented artist who came out of UVic and went on to do some great stuff,鈥� Threlfall said.
鈥淎nd for people already in the arts community, it鈥檚 a way for them to hear about some initiatives that are happening and how she made them happen. The list of what she鈥檚 got going on covers a lot of aspects. [Puente] are really going out of their way to get people involved, and creating opportunities for organizations and artists as well.鈥�
B谩tiz-Ben茅t鈥檚 r茅sum茅 spans genres and styles, from a children鈥檚 book, Lunar, about a young girl who creates an imaginary world following the death of her mother, to work as one of the photographers/cinematographers on 2010鈥檚 Look at What the Light Did Now, an award-winning documentary about Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. Among many other awards, her play, El Jinete 鈥� A Mariachi Opera, won B谩tiz-Ben茅t a Canadian Stage Award for direction at Toronto鈥檚 SummerWorks Festival.
Since taking over from Puente Theatre founder Lina de Guevara in 2011, the company鈥檚 myriad creations have provided opportunities and resources for a wide array of perspectives within the city.
鈥淧uente Theatre has always been dedicated to celebrating our country鈥檚 cultural diversity through theatrical experience,鈥� she said.
鈥淪ince its founding in 1988, Puente has created, produced, translated, toured and presented professional theatre from the perspective of people outside of the mainstream, bringing people together across boundaries, and exploring what it means to forge a future for our planet made out of billions of different and utterly unique identities.鈥�
