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Biographie written for Viener Festwochen. 2.001
Beatriz Catani
Buenos Aires,
Argentinien
Beatriz Catani
was born in La Plata, a province of Buenes Aires in 1955 and belongs to a
new generation of Argentine directors. She studied history and dramaturgy;
she has worked as a director since 1998 and often acts in her plays. As a
director she has defined herself through innovative and experimental
projects which have a very individual artistic and political approach.
Alongside her work as a director and dramaturg, Beatriz Cantani also teaches
drama, giving workshops at places such as the national University of La
Plata. She herself learnt from the Greats of argentinean theatre, as did
Daniel Veronese whose troupe El Periférico de Objetos can also be seen at
Theater der Welt.
In the last few
years Beatriz Catani has made a name for herself in Europe by showing her
work at various festivals like the Theaterformen in Hannover and the Wiener
Festwochen.
Her plays
include Todo Crinado, Perspectiva Siberia, Ojos de Ciervo Rumanos and
Cuerpos (a)banderados.
Cuerpos (a)banderados –
(un)dressed bodies
Beatriz Catani
Buenos Aires
German Premiere, in
Spanish with German translation
written and
directed by Beatriz Catani
Cuerpos (a)banderados
is about two sisters and a body, about Art and about Argentine History.
After many years of being away, the older sister, Angeles, returns home to
her village. Coming from the city, she brings with her the corpse of a
friend who has died from rather strange bites. The corpse is proof of the
shocking occurrences, which take place in their country. Angeles needs the
help of her sister, who is an art photographer, to document the wounds. At
the same time, she knows she must get rid of the corpse, as it implicates
her. Her sister however reproaches her and is reluctant to help. The
sisters’ argument is commented on by Amina, a dreadful bureaucrat, who tries
to impose laws, which are of an extremely abstruse nature.
The Argentine
Beatriz Catani writes and directs a particular form of political theatre.
Cuerpos (a)banderados
confronts Argentina’s recent history.
Some of the references
are clear, such as the body symbolizing those who fell victim to the
military dictatorship in the 1970s. Other historical events have to be
decoded. The sisters’ relationship could stand for the political and
artistic Avant-garde, which, in the 1970s, was destroyed in several Latin
American countries by the various military regimes. Other aspects however
defy a lineal interpretation. The bureaucrat is particularly confusing.
Embodying the despotism of the state, she hinders any form of communication
by her constant word play on the negating prefix ‘a’. It is as though the
terror caused by the State manages to rob language itself of its means to
communicate.
However, it is
far from Beatriz Catanis’ intentions to create a socially critical realism
without questioning the form of its representation. For her, rediscovering
the political potential of the stage means finding a contextual code that
challenges the audience. The audience should be schooled in its dismay at
not being able to understand, at the horrors of our times and at existing
circumstances: Theatre as the School of Political Awareness.
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