2023-11-25 16:09:00
It is assumed that the members of this Andalusian company have represented an adaptation of Revenge of Federico Cassini. Therefore, we are faced with an interpretation of many, about one of the episodes in the life of Orestes (a character who has been understood and repudiated in our Western tradition), who was forced to avenge the death of his father, Agamemnon, under the approval of his sister Electra.
Here not only was at stake who would hold the throne that Orestes himself was called to occupy; but in addition, Clytemnestra murdered her husband with impunity with the complicity of her lover, Aegisthus, after feeling obliged to sacrifice her daughter Iphigenia, after having emerged victorious from the Trojan War. Orestes and Electra were not able to forgive her mother’s such betrayal when they were in front of Agamemnon’s remains, so they decided to take action until Clytemnestra was beheaded by her own son. However, these events triggered The Erineas (also known as “The Furies”) to intervene to torment Orestes due to the severity of his condition. matricide. Orestes felt supported, first of all, because he was able to flee the attempted murder of his mother after having killed Agamemnon, then by the express command of Apollo through the Oracle of Delphi. Faced with such a collision, Orestes desperately turned to Athena, so that the goddess would decide whether or not he would be absolved of her crimes.
Both sides presented their arguments vehemently. Even in this version, Electra ends up siding with The Erinyes, taking refuge in the fact that her brother was the final executor of her mother’s death. Athena ends up leaning towards absolving Orestes, but in Orestes on trial He ends up being sentenced at the request of the people. Faced with such a Greek Tragedy, we, the spectators, can feel “dragged” into endless reflections and emotions when it comes to taking sides with one of the positions. And although for more than one so much “intensity” can turn this story into something “flat” and implausible, this team of professionals led by Ruben Fernandez, they managed to make us vibrate from start to finish. Being that it gave the feeling that what they were telling on stage was really happening here and now.
Photo: Álvaro Cabrera
Of course, in the middle of a premiere one usually identifies things that still need to be worked on, or failing that, could show off more. But in the case of members of Theater of Resilience, this will be resolved the more filming this piece has. Because in every action of these professionals it is clear that they believe in what they are doing, even if it means “giving up years of life” on stage. It seems to surprise you, for example, that Nero Rodríguez has had such temperance in his interpretation of the character of Orestes, as to know how to graduate and differentiate the various levels of lucidity and emotional outburst to which his character was subjected. Without forgetting that, precisely, this was where the greatest weight of the work fell.
On the other hand, the framing “rocker” reflected in their costumes or in the sound environment (the latter by the group Hay un ombligo en mí), redirected the escalation of the events that occurred in Orestes on Trial, to a dimension in which it seemed that we were watching cartoons from the eighties. Yes, those in which things happened that today would be considered “inappropriate” for the little ones, due to the degrees of violence and the maturity that their protagonists and antagonists were developing throughout said productions. Along these lines, I believe that these aesthetic investigations contribute to ensuring that the great classics of Western theater do not remain as “museum objects,” or something susceptible to “codification” in our contemporary age so that they are considered “updated.” And since these professionals were very respectful of the tradition that has come down to us from classical culture, well, more than supporting them to witness how far they will go in this project, and no less important, who they will inspire along the way.
Photo: Álvaro Cabrera
One of many successes of Orestes on trial, is that these professionals managed to keep all of us in the audience in suspense, regardless of whether there were people within it who had consulted the story of Orestes. The above, I believe, is one of the horizons to which all stage professionals who rely on the great classics should aspire. Since, among other things, it will mean that they will have “turned the balance” towards making it worth knowing the classic in play in person, instead of approaching the original text, the videos of the works available on the Internet, etc… Thing which is fundamental when valuing the need for the performing arts.
Without a doubt, the members of Teatro de la Resilencia have left me wanting more, and curious to see how they will shape their particular way of representing stories, which are helping them define their own discourse about the reality they live. in the days that run. Already his previous work, The Butchering of the Pigs, went head-on into how to manage sexist violence in heterosexual couples and between people of the same sex; Meanwhile in Orestes on trial, “corners” its viewers to evaluate where the limits are between respect for socio-cultural mandates, devotion to deities, or the mere exercise of freedom, in a context in which one must choose between how much one is consistent with one’s beliefs. personal needs, and living in the midst of a society that is governed by more or less justified conventions. Of course, It has been a pleasure to meet again with the good work of these professionals.
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