Álvaro Arcos

Álvaro was born in Pasto, Colombia in 1947. He became involved in theater at the age of 16 and went on to obtain a diploma of Professional Studies in Dramatic Art from the Escuela de Teatro de Bellas Artes in Cali. From there, he studied under many known theater teachers to expand his knowledge. Arcos spent some time at Teatro Escuela de Cali (TEC) where he learned from individuals like Enrique Buenaventura and Fernando González Cajiao. He also spent time abroad and worked with Tage Larsen at the Odin Theater of Denmark, Carol Martin at the Dramatic Art Theater of New York, and Herve Van der Mevlen at Theater The Triangle in Paris. Many of his teachers and experiences exposed him to Greek classics which ended up inspiring some of his pieces. His political involvement, however, influenced most of his work. He joined the Movimiento Obrero Independiente y Revolucionario (MOIR) where he protested and created 5-10 minute street performances for strikers. This got him into numerous complicated situations, including jail, and once he left the party he returned to just stage theater. Aside from acting, he also directed and produced many plays. Two of these include Los siete contra tebas and Antígona which touched on subjects such as imperialism. During the 1970s, he won several national awards for his work in student theater. Other awards he received include the Golden Book Button from the Gobernación del Valle and the Artistic Creation Scholarship from the Ministerio de Cultura. Additionally, he has taught as an acting professor at institutions such as Instituto Popular de Cultura de Cali and Escuela Superior de Teatro de Bogotá “Luis Enrique Osorio.” He founded Cali Teatro after being fired from numerous teaching jobs and is still there today.