DRAGON

The socio-historical approach is a common feature in the works of the Chilean playwright and director Guillermo Calderón. He looks at the past and brings it to closer the present with the art’s magnifying lens. Awareness of its limitations, theater as a political movement activity recognizes one of the exponents of the country’s scene in the last decade and a half.

In ” DRAGON”, for example, quotes from the historian Walter Rodney (1942-1980), from Guyana, and the director Augusto Boal (1931-2009), from Brazil, are keys to the narrative. Black, Rodney was a Pan-Africanist, scholar, and political activist. Victim of a bomb attack in 1980, at age 38, he bequeathed “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” (1972), among other books.

Boal is possibly the best-known Brazilian theatrical personality abroad. He created the techniques of the theater of the oppressed, among them the invisible theater, which deals with non-theatrical actions, in public space, with urgent themes in the context of that community. So that the actors, without the pedestrians knowing that they enjoy the performing arts, can expose subjects relegated to the shadows.

Both fights subsidize plot passages. In it, an art collective called Dragón devises tactics and strategies to create their new work, an installation. The meetings of the trio – or duo, to be seen – take place periodically at the Plaza Italia restaurant in the central region of Santiago.

In times of fake news that elect candidates, the dilemma between false and true serves to dissect the art system, between and beyond the gallery walls. Its members choose a complex theme that ends up in a bitter, disintegrating conflict: betrayal. However, it may be too late to restore trust.

The 2019 show, the year of popular Chilean demonstrations against the increase in transport fares, such as the June 2013 journeys in Brazil, unfolded in the short documentary “La Segunda Vida de un Dragón” (2020), with much of the same team.

The claims stirred the foundations of society and conspired to draft the new Constitution, which is now underway, and said to be more diverse and inclusive. This political voltage underlies the scene.

Who are they
Playwright, screenwriter, and theater director, Guillermo Calderón wrote and staged, among other works, “Neva,” “Diciembre,” “Clase,” “Villa,” “Discurso,” “Escuela,” and “Mateluna,” programmed in Brazilian festivals of performing arts in the last 14 years. His creations traveled to more than 25 countries. In cinema, he wrote “Violeta se Fue a los Cielos”, “El Club” and “Neruda”.

Datasheet
Dramaturgy and direction Guillermo Calderón
Casting Luis Cerda, Camila González e María Landeta
Assistant director and technical direction Ximena Sánchez
Design Rocío Hernández
Lighting technique and scenography Manuela Mege
Costumes and design assistant Daniela Vargas
Videos Alex Waghorn, La Copia Feliz e Ximena Sánchez
Production María Paz González
Production direction in Brazil Rachel Brumana – SÙ
Executive production, communication and logistics in Brazil Luiza Alves
Production assistance in Brazil Giovanna Monteiro
Technical coordination in Brazil Grazielli Vieira
Light technique in Brazil Fernanda Guedella
Video technique in Brazil Giovanna Kelly
Sound technique in Brazil Lilla Stipp
Stage management in Brazil Carol Buček
Room maid in Brazil Arieli Marcondes
Coproduction Teatro a Mil Foundation, Teatro UC e Theater der Welt 2020 Düsseldorf
Supported by Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile/DIRAC – Dirección de Asuntos Culturales del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile