Carlos Eduardo (Larry) Silberman Grinblat

Larry Silberman is methodically building a sustainable national children's theater program for Mexico. In so doing, he is fundamentally transforming a field characterized by a weak financial base, declining government support, inadequate management and inappropriate productions into a positive force for social progress.

There is nothing new in the idea of utilizing theater to promote social reflection and change, nor in focusing on children's theater to this end. What distinguishes the work of dramatist Larry Silberman is his comprehensive vision and detailed plan to create a sustainable national theater program by fundamentally transforming children's theater as it exists in Mexico today. Larry notes that Mexican children's theater is now characterized by a weak financial base, declining government support, inadequate management and inappropriate productions. His recipe for change includes a profound underlying philosophy (and social critique), an effective and engaging principal technique utilizing "play," a world-class theater company of dedicated professionals, a new financial strategy, a new model for government sponsorship for children's theater, a proven training methodology, a track record of producing popular and award winning plays, two successful book publications and the beginnings of video production. Now set on establishing a physical institutional base for children's theater, the next step will be to provide appropriate training to all stakeholder groups involved with children's theater (theater companies, drama schools, school teachers and so on) as well as introducing the program's effective theater approach to other interested groups, such as nongovernmental organizations, the disabled and women's groups.

Mexico is beset by numerous vexing social problems. Some are rooted in such pathologies as prejudice and machismo. Others are more structural, such as especially high levels of criminal, political and communal violence and widespread poverty. Two main instruments to combat these ills in modern society are government–specifically, honest and accountable democratic government–and education. Through a slow historical process, the Mexican government is beginning to show signs of democratic accountability. The education system, historically weak at best, is in a state of near collapse, as decreases in public budgets are felt most keenly in education.

In this context, many look to popular theater to hold up a mirror to society to educate, in the broadest sense, as it entertains. There is a long tradition of popular theater in Mexico and, until recently, the state was a major patron of the performing arts. Funds for children's theater, for example, came from two departments, education and culture, and most schools were treated to professional theater performances each year. In recent years, as the Mexican state has contracted under economic austerity, funding for theater grew more resistant to new ideas as the departments sought to stretch limited budgets among favored longtime recipients.

With the formerly guaranteed state funding withdrawn, there is an obvious need to build another base for children's theater. This task is hampered by the fact that many people do not understand the importance of theater and how it can have an effect on social change, and consequently view it as superfluous. Schools don't teach it and administrators in the field have little training in it. Few established commercial directors concern themselves with theater and serious critics are scarce.

The steady diet of mediocre and socially irrelevant (or worse) plays provided "free" to schools over the years has also contributed to the absence of appreciation for theater in the school system. A fair share of the plays advertised on marquees or made available through government programs promotes stereotypes and patterns of conspicuous consumption. The entertainment market is no better, with most productions pandering to sexism, homophobia, violence, hyper-competitiveness and discrimination.

Larry has a detailed plan to create a national children's theater program that is rooted in schools. He discovered that schools have discretionary funds sufficient to finance one outside theater performance a year. The key element is to convince enough schools, approximately 60 to 70, to subscribe to a theater company for one performance a year. Larry's own company, which for two years running created the most widely acclaimed and awarded new original children's plays in Mexico, is the lead example as it is now able to meet all of its annual costs through fees earned from schools.

To create more companies like his, Larry is establishing a national center for children's theater in Mexico City. The next step is to raise sufficient capital to take over a disused state theater building and transform it into the national center for children's theater.

To cash-strapped government officials, Larry proposes an alternative financing strategy for children's theater. He argues that there is actually no need for the national departments to fund children's play production costs directly (or the companies performing them) as the schools have the resources and are a more appropriate "consumer" of theater than the state. Larry argues that while direct subsidies to companies are no longer required, funds for a national center and training program are necessary to build self-financing children's theater companies.

This view is not popular with most existing theater companies and makes his program highly controversial. "The sacred cows of children's theater in Mexico have grown fat and bloated with years of no-questions-asked subsidies for little product," says Larry. "After working in this field for many years, I concluded that there was no way to move forward without sacrificing a few of these sacred cows at the alter of competition." By creating a new financing model that required theater groups to demonstrate the ability to attract paying audiences, he has created a way to compete the sacred cows literally off the stage.

Finally, Larry is working to bring his method to other interested citizen groups. By articulating children's theater to the rising citizen sector, Larry hopes to expand it into communities and relate to major social issues beyond the children's education field.

"Changes are possible, and they begin with the individual," Larry notes. "Reality is built daily. To try to change it, first you have to know it. You have to know where you want to go, where you are, and take the first step."

The genre of children's drama most interests Larry because of its unique advantages in challenging conventional attitudes. Plays for children tend to be more lighthearted and clear-cut, making social reflection enjoyable and creative rather than frustrating and cynical. They appeal to the audience's longing for innocence, and audiences–young and old–can come away from these productions with a fresh perspective, as well as with a positive outlook. Attitude changes "don't need to come through solemnity and suffering," he says. "We should make them eagerly, with pleasure, in fun, and together with other people."

A prologue from his original play The Last One Is An Old Maid reveals his approach:

"She comes from a family where she learned that girls can do more than play house. He comes from a family where he learned that the best thing that can happen to you is to be a man and demonstrate it. She says that her mom says that a girl is no less a girl because she climbs trees; a boy is no less a boy because he feels like crying sometimes. He says that his dad says that men don't cry and that a woman's place is in the home. It all happened the day that they both arrived early at the costume party."

Born and raised in Argentina, Larry spent his childhood participating in and leading group activities. At age seven, while his teachers reproached him for his bad behavior and "excessive imagination," Larry kept asking why school had to be so boring, why he and his fellows students weren't allowed to play in the classroom, why learning could not be fun. His inquisitive spirit and tenacity for learning pushed him to seek new ways to combine learning with entertainment. By age fifteen, he had already begun to coordinate group recreational activities. While Argentina convulsed under the shackles of dictatorship, Larry led a peaceful student movement, based on negotiation and mutual respect, which transformed his high school into a student-managed recreation center. The center offered evening and weekend activities ranging from art classes and presentations to sporting events and social gatherings. Under Larry's leadership, the center charged a small admission rate to support its activities and even provided scholarships for those who were unable to pay.

At age twenty, Larry directed a community learning center that reached hundreds of families and provided recreational and educational activities to meet the particular interests and needs of each of the attendant populations, including children, adolescents, couples, single adults, families, the elderly and others. At the same time, he developed a leadership-training program that won him the praise of the newly elected democratic government. At the government's request, he began to develop and implement community programs, which would rebuild the torn social fabric.

Soon frustrated by the rise to power of what he calls a "corrupt and reactionary populist party," Larry decided to leave Argentina and embarked upon a two-year journey throughout Latin America. During this exploration, he participated in several theater companies and shared his talents for community building and education with people all over the region. At the end of two years, he decided to stay in Mexico and pursue his lifelong commitment to "doing what the rest of the world deems impossible, breaking down walls, prejudices, and sharing with the people the powers that they have but do not use."