Four candidates for a top executive position in a multinational corporation compete, in a job interview, to win the position. The Gronholm method returns to via Corrientes and, in this second season, with a renewed cast. Rafa Ferro and Julián Cabrera are joined by Marina Bellati and Martín Slipakin the roles that Laurita Fernández and Benjamín Vicuña played last year.
The opera, again directed by Ciro Zorzoli is presented at Paseo La Plaza and is already a classic of its kind. Written by the Catalan Jordi Galcerán, since its premiere in Barcelona in 2003, it has had a long tour in different theaters in Spain and Latin America.
An earlier version existed in Buenos Aires, directed by Daniel Veronese and a cast that included Alejandra Flechner, Jorge Suárez, Gabriel Goity and Martin Seefeld.
The job
The “method” to which the piece alludes is a recruitment technique that seeks to find the best candidate through a series of group tests much like an RPG.
The idea is to place candidates in a context where they have to achieve a common goal.
There is neither an interviewer nor an interviewer on stage, but little by little they have to find out who really is who. With situations that change course at the least expected moment, the work never ceases to surprise until the last minute, moving from tension to humour.
“Moving into an already built house”
For Marina Bellati, joining the cast in this second season involves the same challenge as starting from scratch. “I approach a new character in the same way, I try to start from scratch, whether the play has been performed before,” says the actress.
“Because it’s a classic, we try with the director and colleagues to tell this story with our tools, sensibilities and footprints.”
For his part, Martin Slipak has his own point of view: “In particular, I am an actor who likes to be part of projects from an early stage. To be able to be part of the primitive confirmation and contribute to the construction of my ideals and my identity. When you become part of a project, you have to conforming to codes that have already been configured, the adaptation can be more inconvenient,” he explains.
And he adds: «It’s like moving into a house that has already been built instead of being able to sit down and draw the plans with the architect. In the case of The method…., because fifty percent of the cast is modified, there’s been a lot of reconfiguration of the codes.”
And the director’s work stands out: “At the same time, the theatrical system that Ciro had devised for this text was purely playful, so it wasn’t difficult to fit in”.
The validity of the text
The proposal that this work brings to the stage seems more current than ever. “And that makes it more interesting, because the world is more hostile and the system is more savage,” says Bellati. “The work starkly reveals the lack of empathy, individualism and excessive ambition which people fall prey to for the attainment of what should be success or progress”.
And, of course, that’s where the characters are very exposed in their miseries, with which the audience can either identify or reject, always with the addition of a sense of humor that allows for reflection, as well as entertainment.
“The work exposes individuals immersed in and observed by a capitalist system (the Dekia society) but also the piece is brought to a playful level of explosive dynamism,” Slipak says. “It takes absolute dedication and permanent attention to be able to move through this mechanical system that is Grönholm in a playful and energetic way.”
Both expect audiences to enjoy themselves substantially. «May they come out changed, moved, thinking and thinking about themselves», says Bellati. “A good working group has been put together, even if it seems commonplace but it is true, in a short time we have put together a network that the work needs to be told. It is very fast and precise, so we are all very focused and hand in hand, and that’s nice.”
Slipak agrees and invites: “The idea is to have fun and for people to enjoy themselves. The play has already become a contemporary classic and this new version is worth seeing.”
INFO: The show has performances Wednesday through Sunday, at Paseo La Plaza, Av. Corrientes 1660, with tickets starting at $4,000.
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Source: Clarin
