INoticias.CL | «Caballo»: ICTUS Theatre Premieres New Production at Santiago a Mil International Festival

Following recognition from the Festival in its previous edition, Paula Sharim, director of Teatro ICTUS, emphasizes that «now more than ever, it’s vital to unite, and the Festival fosters connections among Chilean artists, even more than the many seasons we produce throughout the year. Our tribute was very meaningful, and with renewed vigor, we embrace the annual tributes that justly honor our fellow artists’ careers.»

The new premiere narrates the story of a woman mounted on the now-nonexistent horse of Plaza Baquedano, waving banners of struggle that she doesn’t fully understand herself.

This serves as the starting point of «Caballo», an absurd play that utilizes the iconic monument as a backdrop for a dramatic comedy as perplexing as the nation itself.

The cast includes María Elena Duvauchelle, Roberto Poblete, Paula Sharim, Daniel Muñoz, Nicolas Zárate, and Camila Oliva, with the play’s writing and direction by Emilia Noguera.

ICTUS has consistently been known for rethinking and critiquing the political and social context of the country and the world through humor and satire.

In line with this premise, Emilia Noguera, an actress and member of the ICTUS artistic team, adds that «the theatrical act of Caballo has enough distance for the audience to analyze the reality we are living through, not just intellectually but primarily emotionally, allowing them to form an opinion on the current state of affairs.»

This production began to explore the absurd, diverging from ICTUS’s previous styles.

«The play is written following what we could call the logic of dreams. The layers overlap, characters switch roles unexpectedly, everything becomes confused, exaggerated, superimposed, simplified or complexified. This characteristic makes it quite absurd and, therefore, quite humorous. All of this serves to illustrate, in some way, the confusion we have experienced as a country in recent years. This feeling that we’ve been hit on the head, and we do not really understand what is happening, why it has happened, and what the reason is for so many twists and turns in our country’s story,» explains the director.

The protagonist, an elderly and deeply confused woman, embodies the psyche of a nation caught in the historical and political events of the last 70 years. As the horse is toppled around her, she remains on its invisible back, conversing with figures such as her military daughter, her husband who disappeared, God, the devil, and others.

ICTUS is one of the few cultural spaces with a solid and permanent artistic team, which has been strengthened through ongoing intergenerational dialogue. «This play concludes the tribute to ICTUS’s 70 years, marking a return to new creations and is significant because it identifies us as the group we are today,» concludes Paula Sharim.

Coordinates

January 7 to 24 | Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
8:00 PM
Teatro ICTUS, Merced 349, Santiago
Tickets available via Ticketplus
Prices:
General tickets on Thursday and Friday: $12,000 | Saturday: $15,000
Students and Seniors: $9,600