A play takes on new dimensions when spoken aloud. A solo performance develops through rehearsal, through choices about rhythm, movement and the relationship with an audience. Directors and stage designers test ideas through bodies, objects and space. Filmmakers and visual artists explore how sound and moving image can enter into live performance.
These processes require time and attention, a place to experiment, and opportunities to bring the work into conversation with others.
Casa Hechale is a cultural centre for theatre, film and performance in Mexico City, where artists can live, work and develop new material within an active artistic community.
The Artist Residency Programme offers two or four weeks for research, writing, rehearsal and experimentation. Artists can use this time to develop a project, revisit existing material or investigate a question that needs sustained exploration.
The house supports work at different stages. In the black box, ideas can be tested through movement, staging and the arrangement of space. Rehearsal and reading rooms provide settings for physical practice, script work and collaboration. The front gallery offers a context for visual and interdisciplinary work, while Salon CHÁ brings artists together around readings and conversation. The Actor’s Lab and Playwright’s Lab contribute to the wider artistic programme of the centre.
Meetings with the artistic team and advisers provide focused conversations about each resident’s practice and work in development. According to the project, a reading may help a writer hear how a scene works; a feedback session may offer a performer another perspective; an Open House may bring emerging material into contact with a local audience. These opportunities are developed in consultation with the team, with activities and space use agreed around the residency and programme schedule.
Based in the neighbourhood of Santa María la Ribera in Mexico City, Casa Hechale supports artistic exchange across Mexico, the United States and the wider international community. Residents work independently while taking part in the life of a cultural centre, with opportunities to meet artists working across disciplines and cultural contexts.