Yesterday we had our next-to-last Conference for a Better World. Originally it was supposed to be the last one, falling just one day after the launch date of our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. But due to some technical issues we postponed last week's event to next Sunday. No stress, apparently, only a bit of exhaustion, as we all had just completed an 18-hour long Online Festival of Performing Arts. Since the whole event was pretty successful, all of us felt confidently relaxed when it was time to greet our guest Sofía Monsalve from Teotro de la Memoria, only to be treated to a pleasant surprise.
A Guest Just as Relaxed as Her Hosts
Okay, this may have been not that surprising to my friends who actually knew Sofía, who seemed to combine exuberant excitement and chilled layed-back-ness deep within her personality. So in spite of our long night-day-night preceding the conference, and the relatively small audience, we had a great time listening to our guest giving her presentation. It was probably less rehearsed than any previous presenter, still it managed to captivate us for the entirety of her talk.
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While she briefly mentioned the history of her theater, going back to her parents who founded it, and got her involved as an actress from a very young age, it was her most recent show that stole all the attention, at least mine, that is. The work is called Specters - A Mapping of the Plague.
Inspired by The Current Pandemic
This highly interesting show is based on the idea that the person perceiving it, is dead. They find themselves in a city populated by specters or ghosts, who have to make the realization that their ultimate demise has brought them into this new reality ... or a new normal if you will, which they are forced to adapt to. It's not easy, as certain things that seem normal to the living, are not optional to the dead. For example, they can hug, but can't touch. They can look, but can't interact with others except for through screens and headphones. They can smile, but their faces are hidden behind a face mask. Ooooohhh, social distancing, mask wearing, curfews and lockdowns... who would say these things don't ring a bell these days?
Full Fledged Interactive Work
The most interesting part of her description, was the nature of the show. Buying a ticket to enter a room, sitting down in your seat, and passively watching actors strutting and fretting upon the stage for an hour? No way! This piece is so much beyond that! Here you actually arrive at a random location in the city, and are expected to walk around and do things during the entire show. Of course the viewer is going to be overwhelmed by all this, so changing the rules around a bit won't even make much of a difference. Also, while there are over 40 actors involved in creating the surreal experience of this work, there are only eight participants at one time.
Guided by Rats
So you paid for the show, only to find yourself in this altered state... you may as well be dead, or something. No idea what to do? No worries, the rats will guide you along! These are the creatures picked to instruct the dead in dealing with the afterlife, for quite obvious reasons. The carriers of the Black Plague, and all around resourceful little critters. Interestingly, in Colombia the word rata is also used for petty criminals: pickpockets, thieves, scam artists, and crooks of all types, as the streets of bigger cities are full of. And clearly, who would be better to navigate a post-apocalyptic ... or let's say post-pandemic ... in fact post-death world better than these types?
On their way through the city, the dead participants encounter various elements of the circumstances, such as the overwhelming bureaucracy, which on one hand Colombians know all about, on the other hand, also tends to go along with the restrictions and other measures implemented as part of the new normal. This is illustrated by a weird character with a number of phones on his desk... which is actually the outside vertical wall of a building.
Really Want to See This Show
Even though Sofía kept starting her sentences with things like "Without getting into spilers..." and "I don't want to give away too much..." she managed to pain a very vivid illustration of this amazing interactive theatrical work. Particularly the fact that it's so blatantly all about the Covid pandemic, without even mentioning it once, is particularly appealing to me. And as for comparing it to death, once again it seems super obvious: you're dragging people through the city full of weird rules, restricting their full range of things they can do. It resembles life in a way, though in fact it is far removed from it. What it really is, is death. And the individual is forced to deal with it, one way or another.
After all this detailed impression, I didn't even care about not hearing more on the history of the
Teotro de la Memoria, or the connection with my friends. What I wanted to do instead, was catch the next flight to Bogotá, only for the chance to experience this fantastic sounding show. Well, that may not happen right now. However, if YOU have the chance to venture to Bogotá yourself, I urge you to look into it. I'm sure you'll enjoy this work, and afterwards I would love to hear about how you liked it.