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HISTORY OF THE COMPANY
The theater group Teatro de Chile, begins working professionally in 2001 in Santiago de Chile. Its initial formation consisted of actors and theatre designers from the
Theatre Department of the University of Chile. Their first play, PRAT (2002), a reinterpretation of the very popular national hero Arturo Prat, which was written by Manuela Infante and directed by Manuela Infante and Maria Jose Parga , caused an unprecedented turmoil in the political and social spheres of the Chile, and thus captured widely the attention
of the media. The show obtained the first place in the Victor Jara Festival for Playwrights and Directors (2002) and also earned its funding from the National Funds for Culture and the Arts (FONDART). Later, and continuing with the topic of historical figures, Teatro de Chile engaged in the creation of the play JUANA (2004). This project was centered on a particular version of the story of Joan of Arc, and was also financed by FONDART. Written and Directed by Manuela Infante, this second play is applauded by the critics and audience and wins a mention of honor awarded by the Circle of Art Critics of Chile. In addition, JUANA is selected as one of the best plays of the year for the International Festival Teatro a Mil (FITAM) that took place in Santiago, Chile. Both these plays, PRAT and JUANA, were published in 2005 by
Cierto Pez Editions as part of their Collection of Contemporary Chilean Dramaturgy ( Prat seguida de Juana, Colecci贸n Dramaturgia chilena Contemporanea, 2005, Santiago, Chile.)
In 2005 Infante wrote NARCISO with the support of a grant awarded by the National Fund of the Book of Chile. This play, also directed by her, was premiered in August that same year in Santiago. NARCISO as well was awarded with the funding of FONDART. In this project the group investigated contemporary theories regarding the modern and postmodern subject, with a new and strong accent on physical work.
With this play Manuela achieved two Altazor awards (highest national
recognition given by artists to artists), for dramaturgy and direction, in the beginning of 2006. This same year REY PLANTA, a play written by
Infante and directed by Juan Pablo Peragallo, was premiered. REY LANTA 2
was a monologue that reflected upon the notion of power and the invisible mechanisms by which it operates in contemporary life. This piece was also regarded highly by the public and the specialized critics. NARCISO was then invited to the International Festival of Cadiz, Spain. For this the group obtained the financial support of the Direction of
Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Exterior Relations of Chile. After two successful presentations at this festival the group toured around Spain presenting the piece in: Teatro de los Manantiales in Valencia, Festival Universitario de León, Sala Alcalá in Madrid and Ambigú in Valladolid. This took place in October 2006. During this tour NARCISO was officially invited to many festivals, one of such is the Theatre StageFest of New York, which will take place in April 2007.
At this time Teatro de Chile is working on a new project, CHRIST. This play is also written and directed by Manuela Infante, and will be rehearsed and premiered in Amsterdam, Netherlandrs.
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PREVIOUS WORK
PRAT 2001
October. Participates in the Festival for Dramatugy and Direction Victor
Jara. Department of Theatre of the University of Chile. (Santiago, Chile). Winner of the prize Best Play. 2002 June. Project funded by the Nacional Funds for Culture and Arts. October-November. Performed at the Sergio Aguirre Theatre, in the Theatre School of the Univeristy of Chile(Santiago, Chile). December. Performed at El Trolley Theatre (Santiago, Chile). 2003 January. Performed at the Internacional Festival Teatro a Mil. Galp贸n 7 Theatre (Santiago, Chile).
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JUANA 2003 June. . Project funded by the Nacional Funds for Culture and Arts. 2004
July-August. Premiered and performed at Galp贸n 7 Theatre (Santiago, Chile). 2005 January. Performed at the Internacional Festival Teatro a Mil. Galp贸n 7 Theatre (Santiago, Chile). March. Awarded a Special Mention by the Circle of Art Critics of Chile.
March. Performed in Galp贸n 7 (Santiago, Chile).
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NARCISO 2004 July-Dicember. Manuela Infante writes the play NARCISO with a grant given by the National Fund for Books and Writting. 2005
August-September. Premiered and performed at Sonoro (Santiago, Chile). 2006 January. Performed at the Internacional Festival Teatro a Mil, at Sonoro (Santiago, Chile)
May. Manuela Infante obtains the Altazor awards for dramaturgy and Direction for the play NARCISO October. Tour Spain: Internacional Theater Festival of Cadiz. Teatro los Manantiales, Valencia. Festival de Teatro Universitario, León. Sala Alcalá. Madrid.
Sala Ambigú, Valladolid.
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REY PLANTA 2006 September-October. Premiered and performed at Auditorio de Cine, Universidad Mayor (Santiago, Chile). 2007
Performed at the Internacional Festival Teatro a Mil, at Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Santiago, Chile).
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OUR NEW PROJECT… CHRIST. In our work until this point, we have focused on the representation of historical figures. We have continually proposed the possibility of critical readings and endless reinterpretations of these figures, consequently questioning the notion of a univocal true history. In the course of this artistic investigation, we have realized that what is brought to the fore in these final productions has been much more an image of those who are doing the representing than those historical figures intended to be represented; our own reflections regarding reality, history, power, subject, etc. have been revealed throughout this process. Now, in continuation with this search, we intend to work on the figure of Jesus Christ. In order to do this we have chosen to focus on the biblical account of his last days. Immediately, however, we encounter our first
difficulty, one that will actually become the thematic axis of our entire project, namely the question: Who is Christ? Or, What is Christ? All that is accessible to us are representations of Christ. As if the idea, image or concept of Christ, one that had until now appeared to be a stable, self contained and solid one, had fragmented itself in thousands of other images and concepts. Could we be rather speaking of an
infinite chain of figures, words, paintings, songs, etc. that pile up to produce the stable and closed entity we call Jesus Christ? What occurs is that behind every image of Christ, we do not find God but another image of Christ, and the play of signifiers appears to have no end. Is it possible, then, that the final meaning for Christ does not actually exist? “ It is dangerous to unmask images” says Baudrillard “ since they dissimulate the fact that there is nothing behind them” What if we are actually just in the presence of an endless chain of signifiers? How can we represent, as in our case with Christ, something that is in itself nothing but a chain of representations? Even further, is it possible that that which we call reality is nothing but a layering of representations? At this point, something seems to dissolve, the distinction between reality and its representation fades, or at least becomes a problematic one. Thus, how can we account for theatre if it is supposedly a representation of reality? “The impossibility of
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rediscovering an absolute level of the real is at the same order as the impossibility of staging illusion. Illusion is no longer possible, because the real is no longer possible� Christ as sign deconstructs itself, and our task has been to provoke, to
observe and to participate in this deconstruction. The result of all this is CHRIST: a theatrical work of investigation that touches on the highly contemporary question for reality and its tendency to escape us, a research on theatre itself, its possibilities and its limits. With a strong emphasis on physical acting that enables us to reproduce the somatic reverberations that this essential question brings upon our
bodies. And a highly ironic and humoristic approach that facilitates the undermining of those things that appear to us to be the most stable and unquestionable.
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