The collective "Y no había Luz" is on tour in 20 Montessori public schools

This semester, Instituto Nueva Escuela (INE) began collaborating with the theater collective Y no había luz to visit 20 public Montessori schools with the play "El Centinela de Mangó". 

This collaboration consists of presenting the play to students, mostly 3 to 12 years old, seeking to raise awareness about the importance of caring for the planet starting at infancy and the arts as a tool to awaken the human connection. 

"El Centinela de Mangó" is a theatrical piece created in December 2017, to later become a very colorful book that tells the story of a mango tree and the encounter with an atmospheric system that hit the island in 2017. It is a fun work that teaches and inspires to care for the environment.

''Part of our vision as an organization is to promote the arts, awareness about climate change, what culture is and our identity as Puerto Ricans, so we saw it as something that complements the work we do,'' said Karla Orriols, Director of School Transformation at INE, on the reasons for the alliance. 

A vision that Yari Herald, from the theater collective, highlights as what made them quickly ''click'' between themselves and the INE to give way to a collaboration that they see as having a long life.

'We are proud and grateful because it is the first 20 public schools tour we do'' joyfully shared Yari Helfeld, who is part of the collective.

Most of the boys and girls who have participated in the play " El Centinela de Mangó" do not know about Hurricane María, or were very young, and this piece helps them learn about part of their Puerto Rican history. 

So far the initiative has reached 6 schools out of the 20 schools that include the collaboration. All school communities will have the opportunity to enjoy it on Saturday, May 6 at the Montessori Fest that will be held in the Great Ecological Agro-tourism Park of Dorado. 

The schools that benefit from this collaboration, upon learning of the initiative, thanked them since they had not been able to have any activity like this at their school since the pandemic, and others thanked them for having brought this piece with such a wonderful history. 

Y no había luz

The theater collective Y no había luz  began in 2005 creating long, short and medium-length original pieces with a message that awakens critical thinking in people. 

In addition, they investigate how the arts have value in times of crisis, offer workshops and art exhibitions. 

The play "El Centinela de Mangó" was created in their workshop, still without light after Hurricane María. Everything was created by them, from scenery, costumes, makeup and dialogues.

The play was presented for the first time in the town of Orocovis, the place where the story of the Sentinel was born, a tree that had resisted all atmospheric systems, but could not resist Hurricane Maria. 

The piece has also reached New York, Chicago and the Dominican Republic.