COMBAT HIPPIES/TEO CASTELLANOS
Led by award winning theater artist and director Teo Castellanos, Combat Hippies is an ensemble of performing artists and Puerto Rican military veterans based in Miami, Florida. Formed during a creative writing workshop for veterans in 2015 hosted by Live Arts Miami, which culminated with their inaugural theater piece “Conscience Under Fire”. They have since premiered their sophomore theater piece “AMAL” and have developed multiple evenings of spoken word poetry/music, and offer generative approaches to workshops designed toward healing, community engagement offerings and more.
Photo credit: Romain Maurice
The company focuses on works about combatants as people of color, and shares experiences of veterans adjustments to life after war as well as that of civilians from war-torn countries. Their work also explores the search for meaning, purpose, and identity through enlisting in the military, as well as Puerto Rico’s cultural and military heritage. Their latest and most ambitious project AMAL premiered during Live Arts Miami’s 2018/19 season and has since toured nationally. The Combat Hippies have been funded through generous support from the Knight Foundation, National Performance Network (NPN), New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET), MAP Fund, Broward County Cultural Division, and the National Latinx Theater Initiative (NLTI).
