Next October 11
Visual arts, theater, archive, literature and psychoanalysis come together in this theatrical piece, whose scenographic proposal belongs to the renowned visual artist Norton Maza. The work recovers the experience of the institutionalization of boys and girls in Chile (between 1979 to 2000) denouncing the perversions of the system in its organization, financing and the consequences of this for the entire society.
Never again is an original production of the Chilean National Theater that is born from a collaboration with the fondecyt research “Institutional childhood and daily life in the protection residences of Santiago de Chile (1979-2000)”, which addresses the experience of thousands of boys and girls of our country. Directed by Mario Monge, with scenic design by prominent visual artist Norton Maza and dramaturgy by Sebastián Carez-Lorca, Never again It challenges us and invites us to think about a social problem that involves us all.
The lost boys are always in their pajamas, living in the Land of Never again, led by Peter Pan. Inspired by this story, a businessman decides to implement a system of homes where only girls and boys live; without adults who complicate everything. But in the real world, the story is more complex, and the project owner must go to his psychologist to solve it. In this way, the work will take us to a world of pirates, mermaids and hummingbirds through the memories and fantasies that emerge from the mind of the owner of the project.
According to the latest figures, between 2006 and 2016, 1,313 children died in centers run by ExSename. Who is responsible for this? Who owns these children? Who is in charge of their care? Whose responsibility is it when the parents do not have the resources to take care of them? This is the central theme of the work Never againthe new production of the Chilean National Theater that will be premiered on October 11 at the Antonio Varas theater in Santiago.
Norton Maza, who is in charge of the scenic design of the play, explains that “What attracted me is that the text deals with the theme from a metaphor that is the world of Peter Pan and it does so in a broad and complex way, which It allows it to be sustained, because it is a work that asks many questions, does not close anything, is open to society.”
Mario Monge, director of the production, explains that the staging attempts to give an overview of the problems involved in the care of girls and boys who require the protection of the State. This State policy was transformed in the ’80s into a business, placing children as stock and institutions as providers of services: “one of the things that surprised me the most is understanding that the child protection system is the first subsidy experiment in Chile, it is the first item that is delivered to the private sector and after that came education, health and pensions, since childhood is what we should be most careful with.”
Regarding the process of creating the work, Sebastián Carez-Lorca comments that this is a fiction that is nourished by the testimonies of people who went through the child care system in Chile. “The Lost Boys of Never again They are the children who fell out of their car and that no one claimed, that is the metaphor I used to explain the story of abandonment, but also to demystify the universe of homes over the course of the work.”
Cristian Keim, director of the Chilean National Theater, regarding the importance of this production, tells us that “the concern of children must be constant in our country and not only when the news effect points it out, just as it should happen with human rights.” In general, those that, we believe, should not just be a concern that responds to a specific date, but rather to a State policy.”
The project that inspires the work, carried out by Patricia Castillo and Claudia Hernández del Solar, LEVI Researchers, (laboratory for study/experimentation of elaboration practices in Institutional Violence), translates the research into different languages such as art and theater, as commented Patricia: “the language of theater is what we needed to tell this story because it allows us to tie together the multiple layers that are at play, that is, on the one hand, what we know about the experience of institutionalization and, on the other, what it says about society, the State, adults and families and, likewise, maintain a dialogue with the ways that childhood proposes to resist, elaborate, care in the ExSename and anywhere else. This is a work that challenges all childhoods, all institutions, all parenthood, all the violence of the State and what we have all done with them to not go so crazy.”
To Neverland the podcast is added Homes Inside which is available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music and which includes the testimonies of those who were part of the Castillo and Hernández investigation.
Artistic Sheet
“NEVER AGAIN”
Director: Mario Monge
Dramaturgy and directing assistance: Sebastián Carez-Lorca
Cast: Belén Herrera, Nicolás Pavez, Nicole Vial, Sol Barrera, Karla Torres, Cristóbal Bravo.
Scenic design: Norton Maza
Lighting design: Andrés Poirot
Costume design: Fabián Torres
Design assistance: Nicolás Zapata
Sound design: Vicente Cuadros
Research: Patricia Castillo and Claudia Hernández del Solar
Production: Chilean National Theater
Performances from October 11 to 28 at 7:30 p.m., in Sala Antonio Varas (Morandé #25, Santiago). Tickets available through Ticketplus and the Theater box office. $7,000 General admission $5,000 Students and seniors (+ service charge)
2023-09-29 19:27:56
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