The work of Maria Gracia Omegna, created from "Young Gunslingers" by Juan Cristóbal Peña, debuts with overtones of absurd comedy. A work based on the kidnapping of Cristián Edwards in 1991. This premiere seeks to reflect on a crucial historical moment in our country, full of contradictions and questions in the midst of a polarized society that was returning to democracy. Directed by Andreina Olivari.

“I want to warn, before finishing this first part of my statement, that during my prison I imagined and dreamed so many things, that even today I make efforts to discern between the world of reality and that of fantasy”. The phrase is from Cristián Edwards, and was said in his police statement after his kidnapping, in February 1992.

The son of the owner of the newspaper El Mercurio was kidnapped for 145 days, in an event that shocked a country that was entering democracy in the nineties. Thirty-four years later, it is the inspiration point for Cautivo (side A), a fiction created by actress María Gracia Omegna in her first dramaturgical text.

In a house in any village, in a Chile still reeling after the dictatorship, a story unfolds that bothers and challenges. The work is set in 1991, in the first years of the democratic transition, to fictionalize this real event: the kidnapping of one of the sons of Agustín Edwards, a figure in the Chilean elite, at the hands of the Manuel Rodríguez Autonomous Patriotic Front.

"The work seeks to present a human event with an innovative and provocative vision, moving away from traditional approaches full of slogans, doctrines and prejudices. It is rescued from the perspective of a female protagonist, questioning traditional notions of heroism and exploring the ideological contradictions of a society marked by polarization and violence," says María Gracia.

The staging imagines this historical episode from the intimacy of that house where the tension is intertwined between everyday life and the historical context, human wear and tear, secrecy and paranoia, in a forced coexistence full of contradictions and questions about what Chile is and what will become of it.

Andreina Olivari (Eloísa, Estampida Humana, Temis, among others) directs the cast composed of Rodrigo Pérez, Catalina Saavedra, Gabriel Urzúa, Rodrigo Soto, Pablo Manzi, María Gracia Omegna, Andrew Bargsted and Yair Juri. Two innovative approaches to theater are also incorporated: the design by Francisca Correa, which provides a cinematographic language, and the music by Sergio González, founder of the band Congreso, who for the first time joins this discipline.

Another element that the playwright highlights in the work is comedy. "This tone allows for a critical exploration that challenges the traditional solemnity of historical narratives and opens space for irony and reflection. Comedy becomes a tool to dismantle myths and glorifications, and to confront the viewer with the paradoxes of violence and heroism," Omegna points out.

Dramaturgy: Bacha Omegna | Director: Andreina Olivari | Assist. director: Javiera Mendoza | Cast: Catalina Saavedra, Pablo Manzi, Bacha Omegna, Gabriel Urzúa, Rodrigo Soto, Andrew Bargsted, Rodrigo Pérez, Yair Juri | Technical leadership, sound design and lighting: Alex Waghorn | Production: Alessandra Massardo | Scenographic design: Francisca Correa | Costume design: Francisca Correa, Natalia Rodríguez | Comprehensive design assistance: Génesis Rodríguez | Scenographic realization: Luciano Henríquez, Marina Torres | Musical composition: Sergio "Tilo" González | DIGITAL Contents: Agenciarrr.

First "Public Collective" project | AAEE National Fund Project year 2025 | Coproduces: Cultura Capital and Czechoslovakia | Collaborate: La Pintana Cultural Corporation.