Founded in 1997, Theater Mitu has earned a wide reputation as an adventuresome and dynamic ensemble of artists. Under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Rubén Polendo, the Company is committed to challenging the parameters of theater research and practice. Theater Mitu’s work is situated in the tension between acting and performance, theatrical design and installation, multi-media and interactive technology. Their practice investigates trans-global performance; interdisciplinary collaborative models; the performativity of non-violence; the geopolitics of objects; contemporary mythology; artist training, ritual and the sacred. Its considerable body of work has taken on a variety of forms: developmental and production work with some of the world’s leading theatrical innovators, research and pedagogical work with renowned universities and conservatories, engagement with non-theatrical communities, and international trainings and research initiatives with leaders in the field.
Theater Mitu’s work has been presented and developed nationally at New York Theater Workshop, The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, The Skirball Center, Alliance Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, The Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, McCarter Theater, South Coast Rep, Sundance, Watermill Center and Z Space among others as well as internationally including The Cairo Opera House (Egypt), Centro Cultural Paso Del Norte (Mexico), Duoc UC (Chile), Kontakt Festival (Poland), Mansion Blatt (Lebanon), Blackbox (Mongolia), The NYUAD Arts Center (UAE), Patravadi Arts Center (Thailand) and Visthar (India). Recent recognitions include funding from CEC Artslink, MAP Fund, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, NY Cultural Development Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, NEFA’s National Theater Project, New York University, NYSCA, Trust for Mutual Understanding and US Department of State.
Mitu maintains a dynamic education program in which company members teach Mitu’s training methodology called WHOLE THEATER at institutions including New York University where Artistic Director Rubén Polendo serves as Chair of Tisch Undergraduate Drama, Bard College, Brigham Young University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, CUNY Graduate Program, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Julliard, Southern Methodist University, American University (Egypt), Duoc UC (Chile), Lebanese American University (Lebanon), Nanyang University (Singapore) and National University of Mexico. The Company also runs annual summer intensives in India, Japan, New York City and Thailand.
Theater Mitu has diligently continued various global research and training initiatives towards the development and articulation of the Company’s training methodology known as WHOLE THEATER. Most recent research and training initiatives have traveled the Company to Bali, Chile, Djibouti, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Sudan, UAE and Yemen. This has led to intensive training sessions and collaborations with some of these countries’ most important artists, teachers and masters.