These are some of the most interesting works that can be seen at the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá

The 17th edition of the Ibero-American Theater Festival of Bogotá has already started after a long time without being able to take place due to the pandemic. The motto for this occasion is “The festival shines again” and since the beginning of the month, the organizers of the event have decided to delight attendees with a wide variety of offers. On the first day, people were able to appreciate works such as “La fuerte”, by Víctor Hernández, a piece in which Marcela Mar is the protagonist. A free adaptation of the play by Swedish playwright August Strindberg. This work explores the power of what is said and what is silent after the encounter between two women on a Christmas night. Their meeting takes place between the monologue of one of them and the silence of the other as they face each other in a pulse full of envy, competition and rivalry. Who is the strongest? “Victus”, directed by Alejandra Borrero, is an artistic laboratory of reconciliation, a unique project of its kind in the world: victims of the conflict, former combatants of the AUC self-defense groups, former combatants of the FARC guerrillas, ELN and retired military personnel come together to carry out an artistic pedagogical process that contributes to the construction of the collective memory of war and which promotes the recognition and dignity of its participants. The work, in the words of his collective, represents the possibility of realizing the reconciliation between human beings who were once victims and enemies in the context of the Colombian conflict. Other works that could be seen that first day were “Rojo”, by Johan Velandia, and “El Palmeral”, by Jorge Hugo Marín and La cursed vanity.

For the next few days, Infobae recommends that you choose works according to your taste and the time slot that best suits you, but if you don't have anything defined, here are some suggestions:

Landscapes, by Saeed Pezeshki

(April 5, 6 and 7)

A diptych on memory created by Mexican artist Saeed Pezeshki and his group Circuito Lichen. Made up of TUR (landscape #1) and MISSING (landscape #3), this composition of scenic landscapes is a collective and sensory experience, which plays with the tensions of memory and explores live the actors' collective unconscious. TUR is a look at the simple, a space to let go of ties and let go of what hurts. MISSING talks about the physical and metaphysical forms of disappearance. Video projections and live music accompany this immersion. The diptych premiered at the Teatro Estudio of the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in 2020.

The colonel has no one to write to him, by Jorge Alí Triana

(Waiting for possible new dates)

The great screenwriter, director and actor Jorge Alí Triana presents his version of El Coronel has no one to write to him. Adapted together with her daughter, Verónica Triana, the play brings to the stage one of Gabriel García Márquez's favorite novels with an unparalleled roster of actors including Germán Jaramillo, Laura García, Santiago Moure and John Alex Toro. This co-production of Teatro Colón and the Popular Theater Factory brings to life the story of a colonel obsessed with the arrival of his pension, which has been going through an unsolvable bureaucratic process for 15 years. Reduced to misery, his only contact with the outside world is his visit every Friday to the post office, hoping to find a letter with the expected news. A story about dignity, hope and resistance that transcends any temporality.

Origin of a Tale, by Aurelien Zouki and Éric Deniaud

(9, 10, 11 and 12 April)

In this fable turned matter, the Kahraba Collective literally gives life to a work out of clay. It is a poetic, exciting, simple and beautiful work that delves into the passage of time in a magical genre where animals and things take their word to talk about the world and teach us how to live. If fables give voice to animals and objects, the hands of puppeteers give life to fables, in a staging in which they model live clay while combining narration, dance and manipulation of objects and sound. The search for the origin of the fables goes through La Fontaine and Marie de France, who were inspired in turn by Aesop, who surely knew the Persian stories — which we remember today in the voice of Sherezade and his thousand and one nights — stories that in turn come from India... And so, genealogy spreads. Perhaps the first fable could have been modeled from clay? This piece reminds us that, not long ago, borders were not defined as they are today. The only thing, perhaps, that can still easily cross space is our thoughts and our stories.

Tales of Grandfather, by Ciro Gómez

(April 10)

This work links three stories that represent the cultural roots of Bogotá: “The Myth of the Origin of Maize” of the Muiscas indigenous people, with figures whose design was inspired by the goldsmith pieces of the Gold Museum; the fable “The Milkmaid” by Felix María de Samaniego, which represents the Spanish ancestor; and for the closing, a modern version from “The Walking Tadpole” by Rafael Pombo, where Rin Rín, the tadpole, is a little mischievous, with the expressions and style of today's children.

Brief encounters with repulsive men, Daniele Veronese

(13, 14, 15 and 16 April)

In this theatrical adaptation that renowned Argentine director Daniel Veronese made based on David Foster Wallace's novel, there are two characters: A and B. The two actors who play them, Francisco Reyes and Marcelo Alonso, exchange roles in eight brief encounters that explore the contemporary masculine condition that appears before the encounter with a woman — in love, in sex and even in loss. Intimate, witness-free conversations, often uncomfortable, that become a magnifying glass on the lack of communication between genders and that sometimes overflow socially accepted role roles of overprotection, intimidation and degradation. Thus, they masterfully delve into what masculinity is with the mirror of women, an introspective look that reveals dangerous and improper weapons that at some point began to be socially permitted. By the way, its director commented: “At least words appear that are more likely to be thought than to be said. They are things that one thinks, even because of the way the texts are put together. These are things that are not offered for easy understanding, but just think one way and speak another. These discourses are close to thought as if there was no filter of consciousness. This gives me warmth, because they are unprotected beings, which sometimes resemble the animal, not the human. However, speech is a human discourse.”

Story of a sheep, by Fabio Rubiano

(13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 April)

Written and directed by Fabio Rubiano, it is the most recent creation of the Petra Theater in co-production with the Teatro Colón in Bogotá. A moving testimony about migrants and migration and about people who are forced to leave their homes. Focused from the innocent and naive gaze of the Berenée sheep and his companions, the Egyptian Ali, who left his country fleeing the desert wars and the girl Tránsito, his guide; the work reveals the tragedy of the long and tortuous journey suffered by victims of forced displacement in Colombia.

From April 1 to 17, then, the city will be able to enjoy world-class works and new staging of the local industry. Countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Lebanon, Belgium, and Argentina are part of this holiday.

For more information: https://festivaldeteatro.com.co/

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