Entertainment on the South Pacific – A Roar of Greasepaint and A Smell of the Crowd in Dominical

The town of Dominical on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast is a great place to live if you love nature, have a tendency to crave adventure, if you’re a rugged outdoorsy type, a committed surfer, a birdwatching devotee.

It is the kind of place where you can kayak past crocodiles, hike the rainforest with any of several species of monkeys chattering overhead, catch some waves on a prime, uncrowded beach, and then head home to shower and dress for… an evening of live Broadway revue? A full-cast production of South Pacific? What is going on here?

What is going on here is the Dominical Little Theatre, that is, English-language community theater just where you might least expect it, in the jungle, in the “wilds” of the Ballena Coast. How could this be? Regardless of whom you ask, the response is always the same: that maniac, Monica Pérez.

Monica Pérez started life as a backstage brat in the United States. By age six she was darting in and out of the chorus-line while her dancer-mother and actor-father performed. Then, nearly a decade ago she moved to Dominical, and theater took a back seat to other pursuits. Still, it was never far from her thoughts; she missed it.

In 2004, she took a good look around her seaside community with its burgeoning international population, decided that the only way to get theater in Dominical was to do it herself, and the Dominical Little Theatre was launched.

“I just never stopped talking,” Monica laughs, remembering. “I convinced everyone that it was all so simple.” She decided the premier production would be the musical The Fantasticks, with its small cast, and popular, accessible score.

She soon had her actors, crew, and a venue, the very large open rancho restaurant at the beachfront Hotel Roca Verde, offered by hotel owner and early and ongoing supporter Mark Witte, whose brother, Frank, a trained thespian and gifted singer, took a leading role.

Musicians Kim and Steve Fergus, long-time hosts of a local open-mike jam night, were drawn in by Monica’s confidence, with Steve taking another leading role, and Kim becoming the production’s pianist. Steve later recalled that Monica “said she grew up with the play. She could direct it. She needed some actors who could sing and a piano player. The set? Scenery? Props? Almost nothing. We need a place and a handful of people and we can do it…”

Despite her years of theater experience, Monica had never directed a production. None of the cast members had ever even seen the play performed before. The new troupe operated on a shoestring. Monica recalls buying outdoor floodlights at a local hardware store and attaching them to a bamboo pole to use as stage lighting. Somehow, on a wing and a prayer, they pulled it off. The production was a wild success.

Riding the wave of euphoria, Monica’s ambition suddenly knew no bounds: next year’s follow-up, she decided, would be none other than South Pacific, a sufficiently huge and complex musical production to give pause to any mature theater company, let alone a teetering toddler such as the Dominical Little Theatre.

Again, Monica laughs. “It’s a common new directors’ syndrome: you somehow survive the first production, so you shoot for the stars!” Incredibly, though thoroughly exhausted, they pulled it off again. It was now clear, the Dominical Little Theatre was here to stay.

Subsequent years have seen the company offering a female version of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, a musical revue of 70 years of show music called Dames and Dudes, and a popular Christmas show. Upcoming productions include the second annual Christmas show and Anna in the Tropics, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play by Cuban-born Nilo Cruz.

Casts and crews, who change with each production, tend to be as international as the community itself, and typically include Costa Ricans, Europeans, and North Americans.

While a lack of money was the biggest challenge in the early days, Monica credits production managers Shawnell and Tom Parker for having established the Dominical Little Theatre on more secure financial footing. The troupe is even beginning to dream of building their own theater, although no formal discussion of such a plan has yet been held.

“One of our biggest challenges now, as far as I’m concerned,” says Monica, “is getting people with little or no experience involved. It’s really satisfying to work with someone who knows nothing about theater, showing them how to move onstage …I’ve seen how getting into a character in a role can impact many aspects of a person’s life. Integrating head and body is an empowering process.”

Plus, there’s no denying that magic takes place when people are thrown together in a creative trial by fire. As Steve Fergus notes, “I think it’s safe to say our small cast bonded very tightly very quickly. None of us knew each other very well but suddenly we were a family.”

Monica hastens to point out that there are many ways to get involved–such as staging, lighting, costuming, props, marketing, ticketing, graphic arts–that won’t strand you in front of the footlights. She is even looking forward to someone else taking on the directing of an annual production, noting that she has identified some likely candidates. “Enough said,” she chuckles, “wouldn’t want to scare them off.”

Chris Maier, program director for the second annual Dominical Little Christmas Program scheduled for December 16, 19, and 21 at the Hotel Roca Verde, is one newcomer to the Dominical community who has dived in with both feet. Chris first came to the Dominical area three years ago as a tourist, and fell in love with the spectacular “mountains to the sea” setting. After buying a small lot, Chris, a newly retired school teacher, spent the next three years designing and building a strikingly unique home in the hills above Dominical.

Then one evening this spring he found himself at the Hotel Villas Río Mar to see Dames and Dudes, not knowing exactly what to expect but profoundly grateful for the distraction from the trials and tribulations of homebuilding.

A lifelong theater buff, veteran director of many middle school productions, and accomplished musician who used to play piano at the Philadelphia Four Seasons Hotel, Chris was stunned and inspired by what he saw and heard. “They presented an astounding seven-decade revue of Broadway and show tunes,” he marvels. “It knocked my socks off!”

Now Chris, a full-time Dominical resident for only two months, is deep into rehearsals with some 25 quality acts–including singing, dancing, family groups, a Cantinflas-style comedian–and has taking on the show’s piano playing as well, since the resident pianist unfortunately broke her wrist during a recent stateside visit.

Although at first amazed to find English-language theater on this tropical coast, Chris is now not surprised that Dominical can sustain it. “This town draws a great number of dynamic, creative types from around the world,” he notes.

The Dominical Little Theatre has shown how something as simple and as extraordinary as live theater can take a bohemian seaside Babel and turn it into a community. Indeed, in the words borrowed from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that the Dominical Little Theatre has taken for its motto, “Though this may be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.”

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Written by Lois M. Smith

If you have ever dreamed of living in a place that’s as close to a tropical paradise as you can find … Please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors Daveed Hollander, John Wieland and James Drews in Dominical in the Southern Pacific area, by using the simple form below:

** All photo credits to Dominical Little Theatre

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.