2024-07-29 03:01:00
“Brenda, what do we do with the actor’s cap? / You should put it in a drawer,” sings the director of the fictional production of Right of floormusical written and directed by Ian Shifres and Ana Schimelmanone of the many premieres of the Teatro Futuro Company that these days has a complete schedule with pieces such as I mean I love you, White wind, The Captives y The extraordinary life“Brenda, darling, tell me, don’t you have a charger?” the actor asks (also singing). Brenda is the assistant of that fictional play, the name that nobody remembers but everyone needs, the most invisible of the team that, with any luck, will barely be mentioned in the program.
This story in musical key is narrated from the perspective of the assistant (played with great solidity by True Gerez) and deals with a fairly common concept in the workplace: the famous “right of entry.” Earning that place sometimes costs sweat and tears, but here Shifres and Schimelman make a bright, humorous and quite ironic treatment of a problem that many young people go through. The talented cast is completed by Victoria Baldomir, Gerardo Chendo, Guadalupe Otheguy y Nicholas Martinin addition to the three musicians on stage: Augustin Canas, Pablo Moral y Toto Ciphers.
When asked Ian Shifres – pianist, composer, producer and musical director– for the role of music in the company that he forms with the playwright Mariano Tenconi Blanco and producer Carolina Castro since 2013, says she always wondered why they are the three of them who make up the company: “Marian is the one who writes the plays and Caro is the one who puts together the whole system to make it work. Why am I the third leg is a strange question because, although there is music in the plays, there is also scenery, costumes, lighting. With Mariano’s dramaturgy, a system began to be built where live music is a fundamental narrative item, something very close to cinematography. This was consolidated as a signature of his and, therefore, of the company. The music gives its opinion and narrates.”
A few years ago, Teatro Futuro began to expand the artistic horizon beyond Tenconi’s works. In 2019, it premiered A house full of waterby Tamara Tenenbaum, and Shifres says that since then they also focused on developing the personal searches of all the team members. This is how it appeared Right of floor“The idea was to create something more personal, where I could have a more general aesthetic opinion. As I am a musician, I would never have thought of something other than a musical; it’s what I do and I like the genre.”
–How was the incorporation from the dramaturgy?
Ana Schimelman: –This theme always interested me and I thought that one day I would want to do a play that talked about this, because it is something universal beyond the theater. The concept of “right of entry” is associated with youth, at that age when you don’t have much experience. I was working as an assistant in The extraordinary life And I remember that before a performance, Ian asked me if I didn’t want to do a musical because they had opened a call for entries at the Young Art Biennial. I said: damn! And when I got home I sent him a message to tell him that I already knew what we needed to talk about. It seemed like a good idea to approach a topic like work in a musical key.
The Biennial workshop never took place, but it served as a creative impulse for the duo. During that period they were nourished by various references, they saw musicals by national authors such as The disgrace o Pyramidaland Shifres passed his colleague some videos of his favorite musicals like Companyby Stephen Sondheim. The performers have quite diverse backgrounds: Gerez He was in Pyramidal y Family not typical; Baldomir recently shined in Everyday suburban life; Chendo He has been singing since he was a child and recently launched himself as a musician (he is also a member of the trio Jubiland alongside Mike Amigorena and Andrew D’Adamo); Otheguy stood out in All good man o This song and currently in the exquisite Visible goods; y Martin shines in PaquitoShifres explains that as authors, they were always clear that they could not demand the same from all the characters: “There had to be a system in which each one could have their virtue. They all had to sing, act and dance, but some had to break it singing and for others the focus had to be on the acting. With that idea in mind, we began to design the characters and compose the music.”
–With you at the helm of the project, two universes come together: musical theatre and what is known as “text theatre”. How do you envision this bridge?
Ian Shifres: –Yes, it’s crazy because in the same city there are very different references and audiences. People trained in musical theatre generally don’t watch text theatre and the same goes the other way around. When we started looking for the cast we noticed that, depending on the training, some knew one group of people and another seemed completely unfamiliar to them. If we mentioned Lore Vega in front of someone from the musical field, they didn’t know who she was; if we mentioned Mela Lenoir in front of someone from the theatre, they didn’t know either. There are two very large niches but they rarely touch on each other.
Schimelman –a playwright, director and actress trained at UNA– sums up the spirit of this crossover and comments: “I don’t come from a musical background, but I understood that it’s not enough to just tune. You have to have a great understanding of music and harmonies; that requires training that not all performers have. For me, it’s about getting the best of both worlds: a more committed and profound performance, a genuine bond between the characters on stage, an exploration of spoken language at the level of the poetics of singing, and all of that with the level of precision that musicals have.” Shifres maintains that the goal was to “amalgamate those two worlds” and, although it was hard to find the cast, she emphasizes: “It’s the best we have.”
Regarding the theme, the composer says that they did not seek to “criticize labor exploitation but to tell it, laugh at it and extract the absurd or grotesque from these situations.” At the same time, he points out that “the theatrical ritual is part of what the work celebrates.” Schimelman, for his part, says: “I think it’s good to make visible a role that exists in all projects and no one ever knows who it is. We have Lula Andrada as an assistant: she went to all the rehearsals, she sings like a god, she works great and she’s not here. With this we’re not going to change the rules, but we can mention names and surnames, recognize their work. Our producer, Loli Crivocapich, was also fundamental: everything seen in the work went through her and it’s good to illuminate that through the entertainment and enthusiasm that the musical generates.”
National authors with their own themes
These days, musical comedy is booming on the Buenos Aires billboard: there are shows for all tastes, for all ages and of all scales in terms of production. The public can find great bets such as School of Rock, Come from Away, Oh mama!, Rent o Legally Blonde; medium proposals such as Forever Young, A movie without Julie o Gwen; and various offers on the alternative circuit such as Fausto, musical tragedy, Woman’s dress o Garland Project. But beyond the usual distinctions between circuits (commercial, public, independent), it should be noted that in all these territories there are proposals that are distinguished by their authorial imprint and others where this is completely absent. Even in the case of foreign productions there may be performances, ensembles or acts that make a difference and find local touches: an “authorial” seal from the translation or even from the interpretative matrix (a good example of this is the well-deserved success of School of Rockwith a talented cast of children and the outstanding performance of Agustín Aristarán in the leading role).
In relation to this point, Shifres believes that there are not many national proposals: “The genre is little explored and, although there has been an appearance of very great authors lately, the thing about buying the rights abroad and bringing works from Broadway is still predominant. Little by little the genre is finding its place.” Schimelman, who does not come from the musical world, explains what his prejudices were: “As someone who did not consume the genre much or had not covered it, there was the prejudice that they deal with slightly simpler themes or they are products that come from abroad and therefore do not reflect our reality, our identity, our language or our daily life as much.” Right of floor It is distinguished precisely by its approach to a theme that is both very personal and universal. Both creators assure that premiering in this context is “a delight, a pride and also a privilege.” “The best thing you can do today is invest time, money and enthusiasm in a theatre,” they conclude.
*Right of floor It can be seen on Thursdays at 9 pm at Galpón de Guevara (Guevara 326) and tickets can be purchased through Alternativa Teatral.