Day: May 16, 2000

“Programme 2” of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s online offering introduces audiences to the hybrid analogue and digital technologies of the Pepper’s Ghost, playing with illusion through live performance and projected recordings. A mystery creature from the mind of Franz Kafka, an avant-garde verse drama by a Soviet playwright, and experimental takes on the Shakespearean soliloquy all occupy the world of the Pepper’s Ghost. Designed by co-curators Phala Ookeditse Phala and William Kentridge, this is physical theatre, performance poetry, short-form fiction, musical improvisation, and pre-recorded installation coming together in an exploration of theatrical performance as a mode of critical enquiry and a form of artistic experimentation.

First staged in 2015, “Xuárez,” written by Luis Barrales and directed by Manuela Infante, is set in 1541, a few months after the founding of Santiago – now Chile’s capital city. “Xuárez” revisits the nation’s colonial past through the tale of Inés de Suárez – here removed from the romantic prism in which she is all too often presented. Suárez, a Spanish conquistadora, played a key role in halting Mapuche advancement on Santiago when Michimalonco, a Mapuche leader, sent troops in to rescue a group of cacique (native chief) prisoners held by the Spanish. A way of understanding some of the faultlines and dynamics that underpin contemporary Chile, “Xuárez” is a complex, richly rewarding piece that revisits a problematic past in ways that illustrate the complex intersections of race, gender, and class in nation-building. Myth, history, and fiction intersect in intricate ways in an acclaimed work – winner of the 2015 best play and best director awards of the Chilean Critics Circle— beautifully performed by Claudia Celedón and Patricia Rivadeneira.
Cast: Claudia Celedón and Patricia Rivadeneira/ Original idea and playwriting: Luis Barrales and Manuela Infante / Playwright: Luis Barrales / Director: Manuela Infante / Stage Design, Lighting and Costumes: Yolín / Music: Atom TM / Composition for the chorus: Daniel Marabolí / Caciques: Flavio Banks, Sebastián Caro, Lucas Gnecco, Gabriel Recabarren, Lucas Salazar Stage/ DesignConstruction: Iteazul, Taller El Litre and Armería Lobos / Graphic Design: Javier Pañella / Executive Production: Patricia Rivadeneira / General Production and Press: Francisca Babul. / This project was financed by Fondart – Contest 2015 Seals from: GAM, the National Council for Culture and the Arts, Chilean Government, Professional Institute ARCOS, Oxiluz Lightning and Perrera Arte. Xuárez is presented in association with Escenix.
ONE WEEK ONLY! MAY 23 – MAY 31