Since the creation of the Carniceria Teatro (Butchery Theatre), in Madrid in 1989, Rodrigo García and the actors in his company have developed an experimental form of theatre based on the body, matter and oral expression. Close to visual arts and dance, the Argentinean director favours crude and poetic language. He works on objects and matter as much as on the energy of bodies on stage. Construction and deconstruction, fragments, splinters, violence are part of this non-conformist's playwriting. From the writing to the stage, the playwright's political and radical intention seems literally to take shape through visions linked to current events. As well as directing other playwrights, and staging theatrical happenings, he has written over fifteen plays since Acera derecha (1989) and among the more recent, After Sun (2000), I bought a spade at Ikea's to dig my grave (2002), The Story of Ronald, the McDonald's Clown, Jardinería humana (2003), Borges + Goya and I scattered my ashes at Eurodisney (2006).
At the Avignon Festival, Rodrigo García presented After Sun, I Think You Have Misunderstood Me in 2002 and The Story of Ronald, the McDonald's Clown in 2004.
Mysterious images traverse the stage and break the silence. A single breath seems to guide the actors' gestures. With elementary materials – milk, water and earth – they carry out simple, ritualistic acts denoting daily life. Modelling, sculpting bodies and materials, absorbing, suggesting, are things which are part of acting and writing.
Approche de l'Idée de Méfiance takes place in a contemplative and attentive atmosphere. In this play, Rodrigo García, appeals to the private side of the audience. Apart from one short fragment, the Argentinean author's text is not spoken – it can be read on a screen at the back of the stage. Like a collection of minimal stories, the play develops within the secret of these ambiguous, peaceful and yet disturbing visions. Whether from a body which rejoices in a cloud of dust or from a strange sprite enrobed in honey, the words range from accusatory to self-critical, based on a few alleged crimes committed by the author and so many others today.
On stage, Rodrigo García, the director, is seeking out meanderings and fragility. A misplaced worker in a theatre whose customs he has carved up, he has rediscovered an interior sensation and remains discrete. While maintaining his essential leitmotivs, such as the highlighting of a certain form of political aphasia, he invents basic and abstract scenery which bears the hallmarks and substance of dreams. It is an altered scenery which speaks about the environment and First Peoples, about nature and disenchantment, with a will to “follow through on the gesture”, to “live each second intensely”, to “accompany each instant to its fulfillmrnt”.
Distribution
texte, scénographie et conception: Rodrigo García
traduction: Christilla Vasserot
avec: Juanjo de la Jara, Agnés Mateus, Jean-Benoît Ugeux
lumières: Carlos Marquerie
projections: Ramón Diago
caméra: Daniel Iturbe
régie générale: Ferdy Esparza
assistant à la mise en scène: Alessandro Romano
texte à paraître: aux éditions Les Solitaires Intempestifs en juin 2007
Production
coproduction: Rodrigo García et la Carnicería Teatro, Bonlieu Scène nationale d'Annecy et le Centre des Arts scéniques de Reus (Espagne)