Lucho Mueckay: ‘Chronicle of closed mourning’, a work to ‘make fun of death, but to be able to celebrate life’

“We persist in this play that has to do with the very particular traditions of our Guayaquil people, where the funeral rite, despite the vigil rooms, still preserves some elements of popular culture. It is a work that takes up these rituals, strengthening the social rite. We try to recover how a society works and the dynamics that are generated around one of the most important events when it comes to firing someone and all the symbolic steps that determine a holiday in him. These are the words of Luis Enrique Mueckay Arcos, better known in the theater world as Lucho Mueckay, about Chronicle of closed mourning (well, not so closed) which, in a new version, takes up the story brought to the stage in 1993, five years after having founded the Sarao Cultural Center in Guayaquil.

As an actor, choreographer, stage director, comedian and cultural promoter -in addition to being considered the forerunner of contemporary dance and the Theater of Movement in Guayaquil- Mueckay has remained until now as a constant observer of the social changes that have served him create memorable stories and iconic characters.

It is not the theater as many believe, a show of pure fun and pastime. When well crafted, it becomes a true model of good manners, capable of inspiring people. That has been the way of Mueckay.

When it premiered Chronicle of closed mourning 28 years ago it was so successful that it had an initial 16-role run, something unusual at the time. Then he had a second season at the Sarao Cultural Center, located in the cdla. Old Kennedy. Afterwards, he performed at a gala function at the Sucre Theater in Quito within the Mary Wigman Dance Conference. In 2018, Mueckay continued to insist and re-released it at the Paulsen Studio, which included it in their stellar programming. For 2019 it was presented in the Muégano Teatro hall, coinciding with World Dance Day. And finally it had its presentation at the II Portoviejo Live Theater International Festival, organized by the House of Culture of Manabí.

From that time here things have changed a lot, and Lucho has not stayed still. “The work continues to deal with that almost imperceptible line between popular traditions that used to be done in homes, but now in a vigil room. The characters are the same, that is, those stereotypes that respond to different classes and social groups. Now we are lucky enough to work with Prema Delpi, who in addition to being a magician, is giving other connotations to the most magical moments to the work ”, says Mueckay.

The other new member is also the Guayaquil actor Andrés Barzola. It is not the first time that he has worked with Lucho, since with Sarao he has toured in Spain and France. “He plays the role of latin lover guayaco”.

From 1993 to 2021 Chronicle of closed mourning It has been adapted to show certain social changes. “In fact, customs have changed since that year, not only in these rituals but also in the characteristics of the characters. For example, the young rocker and punk boy who was in 1993 is now the ñengocito (starring Adrián De la Cruz). Because now there is a new typology of certain street youth; the tv model girl is now a influence and that makes use of technology that in that year, for example, cell phones did not exist. There was no such way of communicating massively. Another important element is the factor of death. The ways of dying too – although it sounds frivolous – have changed. They are those circumstances where, for example, crime in the streets makes people suddenly die without touching them. We have the case of the boy who, by going to buy ice cream together with his father, found death. It is very sad because it connotes a city whose violence is much closer to death than life ”, explains Mueckay.

Tribute to Andrés Vivar

Nor can you forget the COVID. “In 1993 we had not gone through the tragic experience of a pandemic. So now we have to put those elements because otherwise we would be failing to contextualize the different causes of death. And we have to do it like this because our primary intention (in the work) is to make fun of death, but to be able to celebrate life ”, comments Lucho, who manages, in this new review, to incorporate the pandemic through a very significant way such as is the use of the mask.

“Society has managed to integrate this element and in Chronicle of closed mourning, the characters not only wear their costumes on the catwalk when they go to the wake, but they also narrate some types of deaths that are more massive, such as earthquakes, bullets crossed in the streets. We are not talking about the pandemic, but we do remember that one of the most tragic situations is this epidemicAlthough it is true that we are just leaving, it did not cease to cause us a lot of pain, sadness and amazement when we had to fire family and friends ”.

Lucho Mueckay makes a parenthesis to remember Andres Vivar, who was one of the members who played the role of El Funerario. “Justly he died in the middle of the pandemic and we couldn’t even fire him. What I also want is to pay tribute to this colleague who is so important to Sarao ”.

The cast is completed by Denniss Boza, Daniel Ernesto Correa, Fanny Herrera and Hanoi Mueckay. And, like the original play, this long-form tragicomedy blends dance, music, and physical theater. “They are varied paintings where the theatrical space has been specially modified so that the public, from the beginning to the end, live a whole scenic experience where death and its edges call us to celebrate life”, highlights Lucho.

Functions: October 28, 29, 30, 31 and November 1. At 20:30, in the Sala La Bota on the Malecón del Salado. Admission: $ 15 (Thursday, October 28 2×1), on sale at the La Bota box office and reserving at 099-112-7290.