Friendship, love and sexual desire come together in kiss me strangermonologue that the actor and playwright Jorge Mateos presents this week at National Dance Company, in Quito. This is a free version of the book I’m scared, bullfighterof the Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel (1952-2015).
The monologue tells the story that is born between ‘the crazy woman from the front’ (a character played by Mateus) and Carlos, a university student who asks her to please keep some books at his house. “He accepts because he is dazzled with this boy and little by little a relationship of friendship is established on the part of Carlos and of sexual desire on the part of the character that I play, which never materializes. Parallel to this story, so personal and so intimate, is an important event in the history of Chile, which is the attack that Pinochet suffered in 1986 by the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Movement”, recounts.
Mateus says that this work took him eight years to complete. He assures that in 2013 he had Lemebel’s verbal authorization to adapt it, this was when the author visited the country. In his version, Mateus is based on the main character in the book.
“The novel is exciting, it’s beautiful, it’s the only one that Pedro Lemebel wrote, and it really is a novel that hooks you from start to finish (…); When I finished reading it I said: ‘I have to do it’”narrates.
He says that personifying this character took him a constant search and investigation. ”Whenever one faces a theatrical character it is a challenge, because we practically started from scratch. Sometimes we have some elements that bring us closer to understanding the character, another time it has nothing to do with it. For the actor, that implies a whole investigation work…”it states.
A controversial project
The actor indicates that kiss me stranger is part of a theatrical project called Poppies also have thorns, which will integrate five theatrical shows with a theme that he defines as controversial, since all his characters are homosexual. “The idea is to try to get the public to see these types of people as the great diversity that exists among them as well and move away from the typical topic of television comedy, where caricature is the easiest way to understand these characters”Mateu explains.
“It is trying to make people aware that within this diversity there are many ways of being, many ways of seeing life, many ways of facing their vital circumstances”he adds and tells that the following proposals will be directed by him and personified by a variety of actors.
kiss me stranger It is presented this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at 7:00 p.m., in the Compañía Nacional de Danza room (Río Coca and 6 de Diciembre). Your ticket costs $10. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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