Tonight we went to see En Construcción in the sala Mirador, written and interpreted by Nelson Dante and Carolina Román, with direction by Tristán Ulloa, who is "el sexo" in Lucía y el sexo (and the husband of Carolina; he joined them on the scene for the nourished round of applause).
Elena recognized María Adánez (la pija of Aquí no hay quien viva) in the public, who, as if interpreting her own character, didn't queue with the rest of us but went straight through a VIP corridor to end in the small theater something like three seats from ours. Someone else who asked us if a place nearby was free (it wasn't) was—Elena assured—also probably someone famous, but she couldn't identify who (someone from TV, "noticias seguramente"...) Elena didn't care at all but I'm not used to seeing celebrities, so finding them all over the place in a small and modest place, even if a prestigious one, hidden behind a corrala, is quite a sight. You should go if only to see all that in the patio.
But back to the Art.
En Construcción is a clever piece dealing with the impact of crises on the life of people. It starts with the crisis in Argentina, forcing a couple to emigrate to Spain, in the primero mundo. Here they find the precariousness of their situation as foreigners, even in a sister culture. They feel "almost speaking a different language" (podemos poner bilingües en el curriculum). The cultural shock with the Spanish specifics is an assured hit with the public (the discovery of the café con hielo ranks as an highlight of the work, the café con todo a la vez as well, and of course again the language: guay, mola, etc.)
But more importantly, the struggling couple also finds here—that is, in Spain—another crisis, and the public is then transported from being observers of the desolation of others, with their charming Argentinian accent, into one's sudden reality. There is something strong in this feeling of noble superiority, offering solace and opportunities to those who lost everything (the depiction of all the savings lost is poignant), that is shattered by the shaming feeling of being unable to provide for oneself in the first place. This moment when you realize that the misery of others is now yours. That they are not the migrants anymore but people going back, and that it is your turn to go. This moment when Greece realizes that it has became Africa. The piece makes a masterful use of the current events to put such a relativism in perspective.
The work is also interesting for its variety: music, songs, a tango, a creative use of the video, whatever your tastes are, it is guaranteed to absorb you completely at some point. The actors thanked the public at the end for coming to theater, quoting Garcia Lorca on the importance of doing so. This is not a trite comment in the light of the theme explored in the work. But this thematic set apart, with competition from a culture always more merging into a fast-food industry, it becomes an hopeless challenge to draw a public to the scene. The realization succeeded here the feat of making a genuine theater play that is as deep as it is entertaining.
Concerning the acting: the male actor is versatile, convincing in both the humorous and the dramatic repertoires. The actress does not know how to act laughter but she knows how to cry. Her impersonation of the dream might be the culminating point of the play. Together, they seem to live more than they play a couple in the meander of life.
It was apparently the final of the play for this theater, but if it performs again or somewhere else, we strongly recommend it.