The international theater festival Santiago a Mil took place in Santiago

The international theater festival Santiago a Mil, the largest theater forum in Latin America, took place in the capital of Chile, Santiago. One of the most interesting performances of his special program dedicated to the countries of the region was a production based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, created by the famous Argentine director Guillermo Cacace. Visited the Chilean capital Esther Steinbock.

The Santiago a Mil festival addresses both the city and the world. While Chilean viewers are getting acquainted with the tour program, which, by tradition, does not skimp on big names – for example, this year the poster was decorated with the names of Robert Lepage, Jerome Bel and members of the Rimini Protocol community – the guests of the showcase, including many Europeans, are trying on the assembled in Santiago, performances from Chile and surrounding countries: on the European festival market, interest in Latin American theater does not fade over time, but still requires a discriminating approach. Despite all the differences in contexts in the countries of the region, there is something that unites and distinguishes performing arts in this part of the world: increased reactivity, open sociality, so to speak, direct action, as well as vitality and spontaneity.

As for the Chilean theater, social concern is simply felt in the skin – and the fiftieth anniversary of Pinochet’s military coup, celebrated last year, only spurred reflection on the topics of social development, protest and the triumph of leftist ideas. The play GOLP was created as a joint production of Chilean and Portuguese theaters – the absurdist comedy by Alexis Moreno tells about the imaginary journey of a delegation of the Chilean parliament to Portugal to exchange experiences on the implementation of the communist model of governance. All this leads to war between the two countries – under an unexpected snowfall and the performance of the Soviet song “Lenin is so young, and young October is ahead.” The theme of the paradoxes of parliamentarism, and at the same time the theme of feminism, was picked up in the festival poster by Argentina. The action of the play “Parliament” directed by Piel de Lava takes place on board a flying spaceship, from where a group of ambitious legislators are trying to fight the global economic crisis. However, nothing good comes of it for them.

Meanwhile, European colleagues can give their South American colleagues at least a hundred points head start when it comes to including theater in the political agenda. At some meetings and discussions of festival curators and theater directors – one of these took place as part of the Santiago a Mil festival – one may get the impression that the community of theater workers today consists mainly of failed politicians: if you didn’t manage to get elected to parliament, let’s go compile the repertoire of theater festivals . They can talk for hours about the need to fight racism, colonialism, xenophobia and intolerance of any kind. There is no doubt that the phenomena are disgusting, but struggle alone cannot create an interesting theater. Fortunately, when real theatrical energy and talent come into their own, the dryness of the “agenda” itself loses its relevance. The play “Macaques” by the young Brazilian actor Clayton Nascimento, to briefly define its theme, is dedicated to the problem of racism. Early on, the actor takes the bull by the horns, explaining the catchy title of his solo—”it’s the world’s most common black slur.” But the eighty minutes that follow are not a lecture against an unsightly, albeit still widespread, phenomenon. This is a monologue about one’s own experience, a brief excursion into the history of Brazil, and communication with the public on pressing topics. Clayton Nascimento, in addition to the typical Brazilian sense of rhythm – he doesn’t so much pronounce monologues as dance – has what is called a forced charm. Short, naked to the waist, with his continuous half-dance, the black actor so charmingly asserts the triumph and value of life that his very vitality becomes the strongest theatrical argument against any prejudices.

Guillermo Cacace from Buenos Aires placed his “Seagull” seemingly far from the problems of today’s world. Although how can I say: the play, according to the director, was born during the Covid lockdown. And the form of this Argentine performance was born under the influence of isolation. The very idea of ​​​​playing a Chekhov play with a small troupe consisting only of actresses came to Guillermo Cacace a long time ago. But it took shape thanks to the pandemic – five women of different ages seem to be inviting the audience to the next rehearsal of a future performance. Several dozen spectators sit with the performers at a square table or very close to it, behind the actresses. And on the table there is a typical rehearsal mess: bottles of water and plastic cups, scattered pages with the text of the play, glasses, pencils, bags of chips and packs of napkins.

It is unlikely that the very form of the table, confidential, intimate Chekhov can be surprising here. But the female “alignment” invented by the director suddenly really gives the text a completely unexpected dimension, and it doesn’t hurt at all that Trigorin and Treplev are played by women. Chekhov’s text turns into some kind of single stream of words and feelings, into a kind of cloud, which these very different actresses seem to take turns catching and filling with individual, very specific intonations. But “The Seagull” does not become a formal experiment at all; on the contrary, the performance responds with strong temperaments, new sensations, and unexpected humor. Something unusual, unknown suddenly appears in this atmosphere of a secret bachelorette party, a confidential late-night conversation about hopes and disappointments. And don’t forget Arkadina, who in the finale anxiously calls out to Konstantin, but does not understand that it is he, covered with a blanket, albeit in a woman’s guise, sleeping in her arms in eternal sleep.