The theater has that virtue of converting the superfluous into the necessary, the simple into the transcendent, the merely accessory into elemental. In art there are no hackneyed themes. We are going to leave that to political analysis, to the news programs that insist on the same topic over and over again, when it has already fulfilled its purpose.
What is questioned in art, particularly in theater, is the approach that is given to those same themes, how they are presented in their staging and the concept that they want to exploit in a certain production.
We perceive a similar feeling with the play “Five pesos are worth more than you”, a work, let’s say amateur, by the theater group Imagina Teatro, which It is presented from June to July 9 at the Teatro Las Máscaras, in the Colonial Zone, directed by young actor Brian D’Elena (I’ll stop calling him Delena, obviously, with an apostrophe it looks more glamorous. More artistic), dramaturgy by Ji Arlene, who is also part of the cast; Kirsys Núñez, Jessi Rodríguez, Emer Alvarado and Anne Satin.
Scene from “Five pesos are worth more than you”, under the direction of the young actor Brian D’Elena.
The plot: a young and somewhat shy man goes to a brothel in search of one of the sex workers there, with whom he has previously fallen in love and proposes to her.
When the girl finally decides to say yes, they both have to face the prejudices of his mother, who opposes the relationship and, instead, they have the complicity of an aunt who supports the decision and faces moral and religious of the parent, until some secrets are unraveling that put everything in its place.
We have already seen this type of relationship, conflict and family drama hundreds of times, in theatre, cinema, and television; the songs tell thousands of similar stories and life itself is a perpetual drama.
With this work, specifically, we are presented with certain fundamental aspects that are important to address: the author, Ji Arlene, like practically all the members of the Imagina Teatro theater group, comes from the Apec University theater group (for many years we have been jury of the theater festivals of that higher education center, where I have had to, together with actors, directors, playwrights or cultural managers, evaluate everything from the texts to the staging) and see them move in a more advanced way in this than It is his passion, he makes us feel proud and at the same time, committed.
As a theme, it is always important to address everyday life, the issues that make us more human and closer to what we normally live. However, as a proposal, it is important that those involved in each theatrical project assume each play, each job, as if they were the peak of their careers. As if their consecration as artists depended on the quality, the wealth of elements or techniques to be used.
The work “Five pesos are worth more than you” has plenty of good intentions. He has plenty of that feeling of doing what he loves, of uniting wills to carry out a collective project, make it a reality and see the results.
What is missing? That point that makes the difference. Those performances that move away from the sweet and cloying melodrama. Why limit yourself to the easy, the linear, the conventional, when you can achieve something more transcendental? You may tell me that the text marks the theatricality that will take place, but it is there, precisely, where creativity is revealed, not being subject to pre-established concepts and creating one’s own stamp.
For the record, we are not suggesting with this that the members of Imagina Teatro become the next Haffe Serulle, Gayumba, Guloya, Waddys Jáquez of the current theater, with proposals like the ones they have presented for several decades, but rather that they see beyond what is simple and that they are capable of converting their texts into extraordinary works.
We know that with a little more effort, they can achieve it, because they have plenty of youth, talent and desire to do well and because they know that there are so many people who trust them and who hope they will stand out from the crowd. We look forward to your next projects and we will be there supporting you. Telling them, Bravo, guys. They are doing it. May the theatrical relief continue and may it continue with strength and distinctive brand.