«Edmundo»: A Theatrical Tribute to Chile’s First AIDS Victim Returns to Stage

The monologue «Edmundo» presents an artistic-biographical intersection between the life of director, playwright, and performer Ernesto Orellana and Edmundo Rodríguez, Chile’s first individual diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. This production is a collaboration between Teatro Sur, Centro Cultural GAM, and the Ministry of Health.

Marking the 40th anniversary of Edmundo Rodríguez’s death—the first fatal victim of AIDS in the country, who passed away on August 22, 1984—this play is returning to the stage with a single performance. It will be showcased as part of the «Desviaciones» Festival of Performing Arts and Sexual Dissidence before embarking on an international tour across various cities in Spain.

Set in a white square, the performance showcases the artist’s body as a site of mourning, exploration, and resistance, where documents, soundscapes, and audiovisual elements create a polyphonic dramaturgy that invokes voices from both the past and present.

Thus, «Edmundo» emphasizes that the narrative of HIV/AIDS is not merely historical; it is an open wound that continues to challenge our lives.

As Ernesto Orellana states, continuing to present this work, especially in Cerro Navia, means embracing the festival’s main objective: to reach out to other communities with urgent themes that promote dialogue and the dissemination of information. It also aims to address the urgent need for comprehensive sexual education that the Chilean state still refuses to acknowledge.

«Edmundo is not just an exercise in memory; it is a sex-political metaphor that challenges a conservative present reluctant to engage in public discussions about sex and homosexuality,» the director adds.

HIV Prevention in Multiple Languages

Another presentation at the Desviaciones Festival in Cerro Navia will feature a segment from the dance piece «VI(H)DA,» directed and performed by Kevin Magne.

This performance unveils an intimate, chemical, and oceanic landscape where memory, desire, and fiction intertwine to redefine the lives of those living with HIV. The body is presented as a viral territory, a space where fragility, pleasure, and strength coexist.

Through movement and presence, this work shifts the narratives of illness towards a radical affirmation of life, inviting audiences to move beyond concerns of survival to engaging with the question of how to truly live. In this act, the HIV-positive body emerges as a sensitive archive of emotions, experiences, and resistances.

Event Details

«Edmundo» will be performed on Saturday, May 2, at 6:30 PM at the Casa de las Culturas, Arts, and Sciences Violeta Parra in Cerro Navia, located at Mapocho 2370. Prior to this show, artist Kevin Magne will present at 6:00 PM in the same venue with a performance focused on experiences related to HIV. The event is aimed at audiences aged 16 and over.

For details on the full program of the 2026 Desviaciones Festival, visit desviaciones.cl and follow the event on social media @desviacionesfestival and Teatro Sur @teatrosur.chile.