DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
“A movie studio for theatre”
The theatrical model has always been that if you’re a playwright, you submit to a theatre, or to a call for submissions, or a play festival, and hope that a producer will take an interest in your work. If that producer is associated with a theatre, they could get it produced there, and if not, they have to find a venue. If the show is successful, then the producer or company can collaborate with another company elsewhere to take the show on the road, or the author has to facilitate taking the show elsewhere, which basically sets the clock back to zero in terms of funding and resources.
A movie studio, however, receives projects, assigns producers, then seeks out resources in order to facilitate the creation of the movie — finding locations, cast and crew, procuring all the sets and technical needs of the production. When the movie is made, the studio oversees distribution, making sure the work is seen by as many people as possible through public and private screenings, film festivals, and through marketing campaigns.
In many ways, these processes are similar, with the theatre model less centralized and also less consistent in getting works developed and reaching wide audiences. Theatre is local, for the most part, unless you are lucky to be a Broadway hit or be associated with a larger company that can afford a tour.
Flamboyán was created as a multimedia theatre, one that would develop plays for live performances and streaming, whether it be video streaming or podcast streaming. Our goal is 21st century theatre that is as dynamic and multi-platform as movies, and so it is a natural evolution for us to create a movie studio-like project, centralizing theatre production for Puerto Ricans by acting like a studio—receiving projects and producing them where we can, with the resources we can find, raising money, marketing, bringing a team of Puerto Rican craftsmen and performers together on and off of the island, and building into the design a plan to produce the play in multiple places, including online.
A centralized hub for Boricua artists
Puerto Ricans are not like other Latin Americans. Our colonial relationship with the US has created a fragmented identity that sets us apart from other Latiné groups. The citizenship imposed upon us in the lead up to World War One puts us on the outside looking in when it comes to immigration debates. Yet the racism we experience is the same, and even being US citizens, we have maintained our distinct identity and nationhood. We are used by Americans when it is convenient, we are considered Americans only when it helps a white politician score points in the media. For Puerto Ricans like myself, I bristle at any assertion that citizenship makes us American. We are always and forever will be Puerto Rican and that is all we need to be to matter.
But other Puerto Ricans don’t feel that way, and Puerto Ricans on the island have their own mixed and conflicting feelings about the US and about the Boricuas who left, and all of these perspectives deserve a home to be expressed and debated.
Yet this is not a story Americans or even Latiné creatives want to highlight—it doesn’t fit the narrative that Latinés are supposed to follow. It doesn’t fit a nice box, and so Puerto Rican stories are overlooked, erased, and only given notice on occasion, usually by a musician, since the music, even when political, isn’t understood by most Americans.
So we need a place to tell our stories, and not just ones about identity and politics, but ones about every subject under the sun. We need a place to tell stories that capture our full imagination and our full humanity. That place is The Ramas Project.
Puerto Ricans can be the leaders in a new type of theatrical experience.
The Ramas Project, created by Flamboyán Theatre, exists to give Puerto Rican theatre artists the financial resources, professional connections, and visibility they deserve. Whether based on the island or in the diaspora, our goal is simple: help Puerto Ricans tell their stories on stage. The program will connect Puerto Rican artists in the diaspora and on the island in order to develop works that unite Puerto Rican communities and allows for an exchange of ideas and experiences that will bridge the distances between where we live and our relationship with our homeland. This program will also help heal the wounds of displacement felt by many Puerto Ricans which creates a barrier between those who live in the States and those who live in Puerto Rico. By facilitating shows in the US and PR, we will develop a canon of theatrical works that will span a variety of themes, genres, and styles, so Puerto Ricans are empowered to tell our stories our way.
How It Works
Artist Proposals: Creators submit a project proposal for consideration.
Eligibility: Projects must be written and directed by Puerto Ricans, with at least half the cast and crew of Puerto Rican heritage.
Funding Support: Flamboyán Theatre pursues grants, private donors, and crowdfunding to finance selected projects.
Promotion: We help spread the word through social media, local press, digital outlets, and podcasts.
Networking & Venues: We connect artists with performance spaces and fellow Puerto Rican creatives.
Cultural Exchange: U.S.-based projects will also stage a production in Puerto Rico, and island-based projects will also be staged in the U.S.
Accessibility: Select productions will be filmed or turned into radio plays (podcasts), extending our reach to wider audiences.
Sustainable Growth: The Ramas Project builds partnerships with businesses, organizations, and theatre companies to strengthen the cultural infrastructure that allows Puerto Rican artists to live, work, and thrive on the island while collaborating with the diaspora.
We now have a fiscal sponsor in The Field, meaning we can apply for grants as well as fundraise using the tax-deductible status of a non-profit with the ingenuity of an LLC.
Consider donating to our crowdfunding campaign, or send us grant opportunities!
Please spread the word and get involved!