Athletics heroes, soccer geniuses, weightlifting titans: new symbols of a competitive and successful society. "What is the purpose of this useless combat that is sport?" is the question that begins the new production by the Teatro de Chile company, and its doubt is accompanied by a silent, perhaps subversive, challenge: "And what would become of me if I let myself win?" What if I throw in the towel? What if I resign, what if I give up?
Multicancha, the group's eighth production, recovers some approaches previously present in the work of the playwright and director Manuela Infante (Prat, Cristo), such as the questioning of social heroes or the dynamics of collective work. However, it is a work that does not rest completely on the text nor is it able to be resolved dramatically.
The actors on stage are divided into two teams that, alternately, face each other in successive games of invented disciplines (bodyball, multipool, centerball) on a multi-court. The acting action is, therefore, the game, and the creativity of the cast becomes tactical and strategic.
Sport is revealed as an empty drama whose catharsis promotes efficiency, and denies what is useless, unproductive, ambiguous or ineffective. As Infante explains, “what rises with victory is, in reality, a certain idea of man and the world, or rather a certain idea of man in the world. Sport is the spectacle of the body par excellence and modern sport is the spectacle of performance. An empty drama whose catharsis promotes efficiency, denying what is useless, unproductive or ineffective.
Director: Manuela Infante.
Cast: Jorge Arecheta, Ariel Hermosilla, Deby Kaufmann, Yasna Kusanovic, Daniel Maraboli, María José Parga, Juan Pablo Peragallo, Nicole Senerman, Nicolai Stifel.
Production: Cristián Carvajal, Héctor Morales and Constanza Moreno.
Previous Seasons
Multicancha premiered in October 2009 in Santiago and had only two performances at GAM, as part of its itinerary, during December 2010.
December 6 and 7, 2010
Mon and Tue, 8:30 p.m.
Zócalo Square.
Free entry.