The performing arts close a year of intermittent recovery

Guayaquil theaters have operated most of the year with a 50% allowed capacity, indoors, while outdoors it was 75% (although as of that week this second figure dropped to 50% to control the contagion of the Omicron variant), which has meant a respite for the performing arts after the most difficult months of the pandemic.

The Sánchez Aguilar Theater (TSA), which has reopened since August last year, has seen a gradual recovery in its shows since January 2021 with the musical All is allowed, ewritten and directed by Pedro Moscoso, and with a “fantastic” cast of dancers that showed the public interest in returning to the halls, but “with caution,” says Ramón Barranco, artistic director of the TSA. For this reason, the adequacy of the Third Chamber, a more intimate space with reduced capacity and distance.

This was the beginning of an agenda that exhibited outstanding works such as the monologue We were never happy co-written by Daniel Llano and Andrés Crespo (February); Love is something like that by Alejandro Lalaleo, directed by Sebastián Sánchez and starring Ana Passeri and Fabo Doja (July); Y Clotilde and Matilde: the witches to power, written by Nirsy Grau, directed by Santiago Carpio and performed by Fabo Doja and Ney Calderón, with the participation of Gigi Mieles (October). Special mention has the use of the exteriors with the Outdoor theater, that last Wednesday closed the season with Miss Funnyverse, by Geovanna Andrade when we have the information. In general, “the balance has been quite positive,” says Barranco.

The León Febres-Cordero Art Center Theater It also highlights the importance of opening outdoor spaces, which today number three: The Arena, The Stairs and The Terrace, “That gained strength and were one of the most frequented,” he says Marcela del Río, president of the Fundación Sociedad Femenina de Cultura, institution that owns that scenario. What’s more, that transfer allowed them In July 2020, it will be the first theater in Latin America to reopen its doors and activate public shows.

She sums up that in general it has been a year “Very positive and full of learning; Thanks to the public’s support and teamwork, we have managed to maintain a wide and varied program ”. It stands out that since the pandemic began they never stopped their activity, but instead temporarily transferred it to virtuality.

This year they have presented several shows, he emphasizes, since they have maintained their Children’s Sundays (with works for boys and girls) and were the scene of the festival’s dance shows Fragments of June, devised by Jorge Parra and Zona Scene, and the Spanish festival Baiuca (September), in addition to The Barber of Seville (October), the work Nostalgia Kitchen, by Luisa Cuesta (November) and Federico Garcia, Pep Tosar’s multidisciplinary show, based on the work and life of García Lorca (December), which received “great public acceptance”.

“The next year 2022 looks very promising, for which we are preparing an interesting and varied billboard of events”, Del Río concludes.

Two in Las Peñas

This year has meant the scenic impulse of the Las Peñas street through Casa Cino Fabiani and Estudio Paulsen, institutions that got together in January to present the work Dignity, by Ignasi Vidal, a text with a political tint that went well with the time of the elections at that time.

Arnaldo Gálvez, manager of Casa Cino Fabiani, points out that 2021 has registered a “highly variable” response from the public, and to reinforce it they have increased their presence on social networks and in the press, always emphasizing compliance with biosafety measures. So they did, for example, with the work Lost with the direction of David Morejón and the performances of Pancho Aguiñaga and Andrés Olmedo (November), about two friends who have a conflict during a meeting.

“These are difficult times without a doubt, we hope that 2022 will be better and we feel that the current Government is implementing important actions to help the sector”, Gálvez points out with a view to getting up in the following season, in which he highlights that in June they will premiere a play under the direction of Sebastian Cordero, who in 2018 occupied the same space to premiere the adaptation of Rage to the theater.

Marlon Pantaleón, director of Estudio Pausen, considers that the return of the public to theaters has been gradual, but very positive. In January they returned to physical space with Dignity. “From there we had the quarantine again in March. We reopened the space in June with the work Pray for us which had full rooms on weekends ”, with 50% capacity.

In general, the Paulsen Study room has received an average of 20 people in its presentations, considering that the physical capacity is 60. “The public response to the pandemic was excellent… The reactivation strategy was to produce plays with local producers, filtering their proposals. This resulted in a joint work with directors, producers, actors and all the people involved in theater work “, he points out, highlighting works such as I swear i will (October), Pray for us (June and July). They also co-produced Yellow (July) and Hollywood is us (September).

In mid-December they closed the season of the year with a micro-drama co-produced with the Centro Ecuatoriano Americano (CEN): God Save the Queen, as part of the programming in English that CEN presents annually in the Paulsen theaters, and which was resumed in 2021. They also announce that it will return in February 2022 The platypus, produced and presented at Estudio Paulsen last November and had excellent acceptance.

Confidence in the future

Theatrical activity is a powerful source of work for actors. Thus, Ricardo Velástegui, director of Pop Up Teatro Café, has sought to maintain its micro drama to the maximum, although the provisions of the COE have caused the billboard to be intermittent, cLike last March, when there was a ban on operating. The best season this year was between May and August, which coincided with the works of the Comedy classics, that they offer annually.

The permanent strategy has been to provide biosecurity, he indicates, accompanied by a entertainment offering including food and drinks in moderation. “Our invitation to the public is to come and have fun, to have fun,” he says, which is why restrictions on schedules and alcohol consumption have also affected them. “2021 has been reactivated little by little. There have been good months and other bad ones. We have gone with the wave, like a tide … We are still not 100% stable “, indicates the artist, who also ponders the recent launch of the Platform of streaming Pop Up Cinema, part of their group, thereby enhancing the brand.

November and December are usually months of low activity, so they close the year with regular activity, but Ricardo is confident that next year they will be able to stabilize completely. “We hope that is the case, because the actors want to work.” (I)