History is cyclical. Memories, families, names. It’s all part of our identity. This gives us space and roots in our history. Questioning oneself and questioning our surroundings in order to shake the foundations of who we once were is what Portrait of a Dead Artist (Spain 39 – Argentina 78) aims to do, a theatrical monologue built on the memory of people and places, designed to be adapted and reconstructed. In every country it is shown in. The artist’s portrait turns into a path of reflection on the fascist movements that crossed the planet during the twentieth century. Populist movements, with their rhetoric, that could re-emerge today.
David Carnevale will present the adaptation of this play, which has already been shown in theaters in Germany, France and Italy, next Friday at the Teatre Lior in Barcelona. On this occasion, Sergi Torricella puts his body and voice to tell the audience an episode that is part of his private life.
This story links the Spanish and Argentine dictatorships and deals with missing persons. The director and actor travel to Argentina, where they begin a timely investigation that brings up a very dark past. There are questions that oscillate between the major historical events of the twentieth century. Where wounds remain open after fascist attacks. “The left needs time for discussion, and we lack that. In theater we have these spaces to generate alternative discourses,” the director explained yesterday.
The story structure reserves ample room for subjective imagination, interspersing aspects of real life with elements of fantasy. Sometimes, the audience puts itself in the performer’s shoes, and is invited to interact with the space and investigate the evidence suggested by the protagonist.
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