Wow.
Just wow.
Yesterday Dr. Compton and I spent the afternoon and evening
in Coyoacan as we attended a play, and a staged reading of a new play. Coyoacan
is now a suburb of Mexico City where Hernán Cortés built his home and where
there is an absolutely stunning Catholic church. It’s also an intellectual
haven for students and professors as it is located just a few stops away on the
Metro from the Ciudad Universitaria where the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México (or UNAM) is located. What a beautiful city!
(Catholic Church in Coyoacan)
(Hernán Cortés's Home in Coyoacan)
In this entry I will review my experience with 21 historias de baúl (21 Stories from a
Chest), as well as briefly discuss my experience with the staged reading of a
new play. However, I won’t go much into detail about the actual play in the
staged reading as much as discuss the experience of dramaturging. I felt
honored to be able to offer suggestions and ask questions, like a New Play
Dramaturg might. In fact, this experience rekindled my love for dramaturging
and for new plays.
(Mirna) Amanda Farah directed 21 historias de baúl, and one of the best ways I can describe her
skill level is by simply comparing her to Stephanie Foster Breinholt, a
professor and director in the Theater Department at BYU. From my own
experiences, every single play Stephanie directs is absolutely mind-blowing,
fantastic and breathtaking, all in positive ways. When attention is paid to
every little detail (the lights, facial expressions, movements, transitions,
scenery, etc.) then the world of the play is that much more engaging. And let
me just say here that this play was at that level. So, I would love to take my
hat off to Amanda for offering such an exquisite experience.
(Poster for 21 historias de baúl)
And the actors. Oh! The actors! Each of the four actors
played their roles with such delivery that you couldn’t help but be sucked into
their unique worlds; and with this play, there were twenty-one different
worlds! Llever Aíza played a crazy Don Quixote, an elephant, a traveling
doctor, and various other roles with such facial expressions you couldn’t help
but laugh! Joana Larequi was the only actress on stage, but on many occasions
played different roles as a man. She produced long sighs as a skeleton waiting
for the resurrection, acted very macho as she blew out a star, and emitted a
deep sadness as she waited at the train with her son. One of the most stunning
moments of the show was Emilio Savinni, who played a crazy person in the chest.
His demonic laughs felt so real as he responded to the promptings of a skeptic
doctor. I mean, scarily real. As the chest closed at the end he transitioned
from laughing to whimpering in one of the most disturbingly awesome scenes of
the night. Later in the show he came out as a camel, walking hand and foot in
synchrony as he moved his mouth around just like a camel. They were stellar for
the entire show, almost always on stage as they transitioned from one scene to
the next.
The last actor, Pablo Marín, deserves special attention.
While all the actors were simply amazing, Pablo also captivated our attention
every single time he appeared on stage. His presence and mannerisms, such as stroking his skeletal
body in deep melancholy as he sat in the cemetery, his caricature movements as
Rita, his narrating qualities at the death of a whale, and his deathly facial
expressions as he swayed back-and-forth in the train, were demonstrations of
his love for acting as well as his development as a skilled actor. Dr. Compton saw him previously in Si no lo cuentas tú, ¿quién lo sabra? (If you don’t tell it, who will know?), a
show dealing with themes of the Holocaust he considered to be the masterpiece
of his trip in 2014. The complete production of this show is available on
YouTube. In my experience Pablo Marín blew me away. Gone. In another world.
For anyone traveling to Mexico City, this show will continue to be performed at Teatro La Capilla every Friday at 5:00 PM until July 3rd.
(Teatro La Capilla Logo)
And if this show wasn’t enough, we spent the rest of the
evening in a home listening to an interactive staged reading of a new play by Martín López Brie which revolved around Calderón de la Barca’s La vida es sueño (Life is a
Dream). It felt great to be invited with Dr. Compton in the presence of a
work still germinating. I won’t go into detail here about the plot. However, I will say that
the work was stunning and the dialogue was fluid between the two actors. When
the show ended, we both sat with colleagues who are playwrights, producers,
directors, and other students of theater, to discuss our impressions, ask
questions and suggest improvements. This interaction made me think of the
saying: it takes one person to write a play and ninety-nine others to tell the playwright
how to do it better. As I thought about this, I realized writing a play is much
like writing articles in Academia: there are always others who will want minor
improvements based on their own intellectual understandings. I find this
process of collaboration one of the most intriguing and wonderful aspects of
Academia and theater.
During this collaboration I approached my comments with a
set of understanding eyes more than suggestions, having learned some great
techniques about working with playwrights from BYU’s own Janine Sobeck, a
professional dramaturg and professor who previously worked at the Arena Stage. So,
when I offered comments I asked more questions rather
than offering ways to improve the play. The fruitful discussions afterwards confirmed
this was the right approach. The last thing I wanted to do was come off as a “know-it-all”
who thinks he has all the right answers. There were such thoughtful comments
and suggestions offered for the playwright that I know he will produce a stellar work, in part because the work itself was already
well-written. Experiences like these confirm to me that Latin American Theater
is a fruitful field to study. I can’t wait for more!
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