A text by a Lebanese author, raised in Canada and living in France, e an Argentinian cast and director shape a Eduviges’ hands at birththe work that is presented at the Cervantes Theater and which could be defined a contemporary tragedy.
Awarded in France and recognized worldwide, Wajdi Mouawad He was born in Lebanon, in a Maronite Christian city surrounded by Druze minorities, but because of the war he spent his childhood between Beirut and Paris. Y it is the same playwright who wrote Fireswho performed in Buenos Aires in 2013directed by Sergio Renan.
In The hands of Eduviges.first translated into Spanish by Julián Ezquerra, the story has that mixture of idiosyncrasies with which the author identifiesamalgamated by a very universal drama. There is something unreal and timeless in the plot with elements that could happen in any corner of the planet.
What is the comedy about
The conflict revolves around a family living in constant anguish over the disappearance of one of their daughters, that the city believes dead and, therefore, willing to bury her. But There is nobody. However, the girl’s parents are determined to arrange a burial if necessary as it will bring financial relief.
The only one in the family who isn’t willing to give in to the charade is Eduviges, who believes his sister is still alivewhich puts her in front of the entire family unit, and even the entire community.
But that’s not all: Eduviges has a rare condition that causes water to come out of your hands when you pray. And in the city they consider it a miracle, another reason for profit for their parents, driven by desperation.
Called the director Cristian Drut a solid castessential to give life to these characters that navigate the deepest drama and fantasyaccentuated by the constant fog that clouds thoughts and reasons, and achieves a smooth story despite its overwhelming drama.
Starring Vanesa González
Eduviges, played by Vanesa Gonzálezshe is the young woman who rebels against the institutions: the family, religion, the oppressive system based on the interest on money, with an intense and always balanced presence despite the pressures she receives.
His parents, in charge of Horace Acosta Y Matilde Campilongor they are the ones who faithfully represent that universe from which he wants to differentiate himself, with moments that oscillate between greed and denial in the face of unbearable pain. His characters, who seem to have forgotten part of the dignity, arouse – equally – rejection and pity.
Eduviges finds no other way to protect itself from the outside than refusing to step out of a basement where everything is oppressive and restrictive but at the same time, where he continues to hope for his lost sister. Even the staging, limited to a small space, which represents the basement, alludes to rigidity and intolerance, and has an effect on the viewer.
The fact of organizing a burial without a body and imagining a “salvation” thanks to that simulation e to the miracle of Eduviges’ hands dripping water, as a leap of faith, give the story a certain aura of magical realism. The text, on his part, it appeals to the poetic, but without giving a break to crudeness of what is happening out there, where a horde of people is becoming more and more menacing.
The cast is completed with Eddie Garciaas Alex, the brother willing to convince his sister, however, to cooperate in the fake burial; Aldana Illanas Esther, the lost sister who represents the most tragic moments of history and, Sergio Mayorquinsuch as Vaklav, Eduviges’ fiance and his only ally.
All three know how to give their characters an identity appropriate to the context.
Profit with faith, economic interest in individual needs and the denial of a reality that ends up becoming violence are some of the aces that emerge from this story. The opportunism that opposes the deepest feelings is part of the conflict that faces the characters.
For some, the term “disappeared” that hovers over the plot when referring to one of the daughters could be connected to a dark phase in Argentine history. But, beyond this analogy, there is something more universal and timeless associated with the oppression and violence that, historically, have faced millions of people around the world.
The forest and the fog, guess between the words of the characters and the lights and shadows around that base planted in the center of the stage become present, almost tangible, like flesh and blood characters. Y his ghostly presence only deepens the clash between the anachronistic and the moderncausing the pain of an inevitable and perpetual tragedy.
File
Qualification: Good
Functions: from Thursday to Sunday at 18:00, in the Luisa Vehil hall of the Teatro Nacional Cervantes, Libertad 815. Admission: $800.
Source: Clarin
