Workers at Teatro Colon Make Masks For Health Workers in Need

According to TRT World, Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires opera house, has taken to making face masks for those in need during the health crisis. The company has made 1,500 masks per week to give to health workers.

"This is a factory of dreams," said stage director Enrique Bordolini. "The Colon has this advantage that everything you see on stage, when the curtain opens, is made right here."

The group making the masks consists of over 50 volunteers, who typically work with the theatre to make stage props, costumes, and special effects.

"I feel the same joy that I do when I make costumes. For me, it's the same pride and I do it just as happily," said Stella Maris Lopez, the Colon's head seamstress.

The project gives members something to do while all performances and activities at the theatre are currently suspended. Argentina has over 3,000 cases and 167 deaths due to COVID-19.

Read more on TRT World.

In its first opera house, the Teatro Colón functioned from 1857 to 1888, the year in which it closed to start the construction of a new building. The current location was inaugurated on May 25, 1908 with the performance of Aida.

In its beginnings, the Colón used to hire foreign companies for its programming. In 1925 it started having its own permanent companies -Orchestra, Ballet and Choir- and scenographic workshops which allowed, in the 1930s, developing its own productions funded by the city's budget. Since then, the Teatro Colón has been defined as a season theater or stagione with the capacity to carry out a whole production thanks to the professionalism of their specialized scenographic bodies.