In The News
Bregamos Theater-
A Unique Agent of Change
August 21, 2013- By Ana María Arellano
Photo by Ana Mario Arellano
CTLatinoNews.com
Rafael Ramos founded Bregamos Theater in New Haven 13 years ago and gave it an unusual name for an intentional and precise reason. “In Latin America, ‘bregamos’ means ‘We fix it, tweak it, to make it work, to make it happen, by any means necessary, to make a deal, consider it done,” says Ramos.
It’s also apparent, Ramos, 56, who started out as a plumber, gave the same kind of profound thought to the role the arts can play in transforming and advancing communities, which is what led him to run a theater in the first place.
As this father of seven tells his story, many of the pieces fall into place.
“I grew up in the South Bronx in a Puerto Rican family, he says. “The South Bronx was teeming with artists who were taking over “squats”—buildings abandoned by the city. As a plumber, I helped the artists, and I was always exposed to the arts.”
Cell Phones Don't Exist
May 9, 2013- New Haven Indepenent
Motha Earth checks out Wisdom Warrior and his girlfriend Patti in the new booth at Uncle Kang’s Diner. That stuff she’s dabbing on her zits? It was intended to be a magical potion to take Wisdom’s mind off other girls. Turns out it works even better as acne cream.
Welcome to the mythical yet teen-down-to-earth world of Hope High: Class of ‘84.
Hope High / Bregamos Theater Randallized
December 10, 2012 IloveNewHaven.org by Chris Randall
I Love Bregamos. Bregamos Community Theater is a labor of love that was started by Rafael Ramos in Erector Square, and Bregamos produces amazing performances which feature New Haven youth. The theater is all volunteer with no budget or funding, yet it provides a super positive activity for kids here in New Haven that also fosters creative expression/development.
“Momma’s Boyz” Brings Street Life To Stage
April 29, 2010- New Haven Independent by Allan Apel
Photos Allan Appel
A drug dealer is coming to Fair Haven tonight looking for JaQuann Brantley—carrying a bullet with Brantley’s name on it.
Fortunately for JaQuann Brantley (at left in photo), that lethal action is taking place not on the streets but the stage.
Not that Brantley is unfamiliar with the rough life of the streets. The 20-year old from the Dwight neighborhood has had friends and acquaintances shot dead in turf and drug battles that were the tragic culmination of often petty slights or jealousies. He has avoided that fate. But he has also had an unsettled life including bouncing among several foster homes.
Now he may have found a home in the theater.
Fair Haven’s Bregamos Community Theater, to be precise. Brantley is one of the stars of Momma’s Boyz, a gripping story of three friends caught up in the drug life. It debuts Thursday night at the Erector Square theater; performances run through Sunday.
“He’s a gem for us,” said Rafael Ramos, the play’s producer and the founder of Bregamos.
Ramos met Brantley at a dinner where the young man was performing poetry.
Although he had had spoken word experience, mainly at city venues with open mikes, Brantley had never acted.
Ramos knew a natural when he saw one. “He’s very talented. He’s very eloquent when he expresses himself. It comes out like poetry,” said Ramos, who takes credit for discovering Brantley. “And the language and energy just pour out of him.”
The play, written by Candido Tirado, premiered at New York’s Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2002
"Kingdom" Comes to Rotterdam
March 17, 2008- New Haven Indepenent by Allen Appel
Photo by Allen Appel
On September 15, The Inner Theater Project in conjunction with Bregamos Community Theater presented “Last Chance,” a stage reading of a work-in-progress, written by young thespians under the guidance of Director-Choreographer Sharece M. Sellem, who is also the Drama Instructor for the Dramatic Dreamers Drama Club at Davis St. Interdistrict Arts & Academics Magnet School in New Haven. Bregamos, now in its 12th year of providing and promoting quality community theater, operates out of a “spot that nobody wanted,” according to its founder, Rafael Ramos.
“El Teatro Bregamos”, cuna de eventos artísticos y culturales para la comunidad de New Haven
June 04, 2013- LaVoz
New Haven cuenta con una variedad de sitios de diversión y entretenimiento que hacen que la vida de sus habitantes sea más llevadera y placentera, ya que a esos lugares va la gente para gozar con la actuación de un artista destacado, escuchar una pieza musical, o saborear una buena obra teatral.
Y aunque las personas que gustan de los espectáculos van a lugares reconocidos en el área, muchos de ellos no saben que en plena zona residencial del sector de Fair Haven, existe un recinto donde se celebran diversos eventos artístico-culturales y de ayuda a la comunidad, y el cual ha pasado desapercibido para muchos a través de los años. Si ustedes no saben a qué nos referimos, les podemos decir simplemente que estamos hablando del “Teatro Bregamos”.
Para conocer más de los inicios y el desarrollo de éste bastión teatral de la ciudad, conversamos con el Presidente de esta institución, el señor Rafael Ramos, persona muy conocida en el ambiente local.
“El Teatro Bregamos lo fundé yo en el 2002,” empezó contándonos Rafael Ramos, acerca de los inicios de este centro de entretención familiar, el cual ya ha presentado en tarima varias obras teatrales, lo mismo que ha contado con la participación de grandes figuras artísticas. “Desde su fundación hasta estos días, el teatro ha estado trabajando con sentido de pueblo y es compartido con diferentes organizaciones comunitarias a nivel local”
¿Y dónde precisamente se encuentran sus instalaciones, señor Ramos?
-El Teatro Bregamos está en un edificio localizado en una pequeña plaza conocida bajo el nombre de “Erector Square”, situada en el 315 Peck Street, del sector de Fair Haven, en New Haven.
¿Ustedes han estado siempre ahí?
No. Allí llevamos como unos cinco años, ya que desde sus comienzos lo utilizamos como un teatro rodante, haciendo presentaciones en sitios diferentes, como son los parques, las iglesias, las barras, y las escuelas.
¿Y por qué o de dónde le dan ese nombre de Teatro Bregamos?
"Last Chance," First Reading
September, 2012- New Haven Indepenent
On September 15, The Inner Theater Project in conjunction with Bregamos Community Theater presented “Last Chance,” a stage reading of a work-in-progress, written by young thespians under the guidance of Director-Choreographer Sharece M. Sellem, who is also the Drama Instructor for the Dramatic Dreamers Drama Club at Davis St. Interdistrict Arts & Academics Magnet School in New Haven. Bregamos, now in its 12th year of providing and promoting quality community theater, operates out of a “spot that nobody wanted,” according to its founder, Rafael Ramos.
Stan Simpson Show
May 4th, 2013- Fox Network
Sharece M. Sellem and Allen Thomas Jr. of The Warehouse Ensemble speak with Stan Simpson of FOX News CT about HOPE HIGH, Class of 84.’
Yale and community theater stage Spanish language play
By Dorie Baker
April 5, 2013
As part of Yale’s Latin American Theatre Series project, the Bregamos Community Theater of New Haven will present two Spanish language performances of “El Monte Calvo” by Colombian playwright Jairo Aníbal Niño, on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14.
Free and open to the public, the play will be performed and directed by members of the Yale faculty. Both performances will take take place at 8 p.m. at Bregamos Theater, 491 Blatchley Ave.
"Bregamos has been wonderfully successful in creating theater that brings in really diverse audiences in terms of age, race, culture and economic backgrounds." - Playwright Aaron Jafferis
Bregamos' 'Peasant' play focuses on
political realities
New Haven Register: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 By Donna Doherty, Register Arts Editor
NEW HAVEN — Bregamos Community Theater and the New Haven/Leon Sister City Project have one thing in common: community is everything.
They have collaborated on a theater project which will bring a play which puts that same focus on community into perspective, specifically when outsiders’ interests are at odds with the needs of a community.
“A Peasant of El Salvador,” written by Peter Gould and Stephen Stearns, will be performed in a bilingual version over the next two weeks, starting with a 7 p.m. preview Thursday, Oct. 6 in the black box theater at Fair Haven School, 164 Grand Ave. Performance schedule and tickets ($12, free for the preview, but donations accepted), are available at 866-631-8880 or wwwbregamos.org (see below).
Hip-hop artist and playwright Aaron Jafferis is the project manager for the venture, coordinating the artistic team and some of the logistics, along with director Rob Esposito, the theater director at Coop Arts and Humanities High, Chris Schweitzer of the Sister City Project and Bregamos.
The collaboration is part of the ongoing theater project to explore social justice in New Haven and its sister city of Leon, Nicaragua, and is part of the celebration of Hispanic Heritage month.
Said Jafferis, “The work that we’re doing in our sister city of Leon, Nicaragua, has brought up some really pressing issues of farmers whose land has been bought or taken away and who are then forced to make a living working for these large multinational corporations.
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