Ithaca College

Ithaca College students gave a tremendous performance of "A propósito de la duda" (For the Sake of Doubt) at the United Nations on Tuesday, December 10th, in honor of International Human Rights Day.

In recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the return to democracy in Argentina, after a military dictatorship claimed approximately 30,000 lives (1976-83), IC students shed light on the continued search for the missing children and grandchildren of the dictatorship period.

 Kudos to the Ithaca College students listed below for their tremendous work!

Tommy Conners 

Kai Schidlovsky 

Rachel Benjamin

Lucy Walker 

Tessa Crisman 

Ellie Radin 

Gus Gonzalez 

Owen McIlmail 

Megan Harrison 

Donette Ritchie 

Nathiel Tejada

Beatriz Montilla 

Sarah Apgar 

Jazmin Menjivar 

Angela Leonardo

Cristopher Ramirez 

Michael Piascik

Kristin Leffler

Ben Gaynor

Special thanks to Teatro Alums who performed with the cast in New York City: 

Eva María Touré

Gipsy Fernández

Yuberky Reyes

Reisy Veloz

Marianna Manganiello

“A próposito de la duda” (For the Sake of Doubt), by Patricia Zangaro and Daniel Fanego, was first staged on June 5th, 2000 in the Rojas Cultural Center of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The play is a product of Zangaro’s and Fanego’s desire to use theater to support the Grandmothers of the May Plaza in their search for the 500 grandchildren who were stolen and appropriated during the military dictatorship of 1976-83. The play’s reception paved the way for the Teatro x la Identidad (Teatro for Identity) movement. The very title of the play makes us aware of its objective, to question one’s own identity. Questions, testimony, and uncertainty lead the young protagonist (muchacho pelado), played by Tommy Conners, toward the path of truth.

Ithaca College students, as part of a Spanish class entitled “Teatro: From the Page to the Stage,” Spanish 260, presented this play at the end of September as an act of solidarity in welcoming Grandmothers of the May Plaza, Estela de Carlotto and Buscarita Roa, to a conference on democracy and dictatorship at Cornell University. The invitation to then repeat the performance at the United Nations for such an important occasion was met with tremendous dedication. 

Even though thirty years have passed since democracy returned to Argentina – Raúl Alfonsín became president on December 10th, 1983, after over seven years of dictatorship –, the human rights violations may not be erased with the passage of time. In 2009 the Argentine Senate passed a law that authorizes the mandatory submission of biological evidence in order to confirm one’s identity in cases dealing with crimes against humanity. The judicial power to demand DNA tests from individuals has been an important step in the quest to solve investigations associated with locating and identifying the children born in clandestine torture centers, whose parents were detained during the military dictatorship of 1976-83. Just this past August, grandchild 109, Pablo Germán Athanasiu Laschan, recuperated his true identity. The search for others continues.