I attended last Thursday at the Teatro de las Cortes a unique performance by an extraordinary group. From a very direct and personal source I have experienced the tremendous effort that the members of UPACE had to make as actors, dancers, technicians and extras, they stood up, almost raised the play ‘Próxima parada: el amor’ to the sky, under the authorship and direction of an also unique figure: Raúl López de Palacio.
Against the wind of the pandemic, the tides of one’s own limitations and the rain of frustrations and fears, more than two years of work culminated in a luminous performance. Of course, the emotion got the better of the spectators, in one of those battles that are not always won in advance but rather hang on to the thin thread of distrust, which this time was much more present in the public than among those who seemed to be professional artists.
I am also lucky enough to have been a direct witness, and at some sparring moment, of a minimal part of the tenacity and insistence of one of the actresses, not only in learning the role but in internalizing it and giving it the essential nuances so that a dramatic character is believable and provokes tears, rejection and even laughter in the receiver.
The most beautiful thing about this whole process that ended on stage on Thursday is that I believe that they did not want to show anything, but ended up enjoying the fruit of all the bad times at the culmination of a day. It wasn’t people with cerebral palsy showing the world their undoubted ability to excel, but people focused on dramatic work and offering their work to the respectable: here you have it, laugh, cry, applaud or not depending on what you think you should do.
Naturally and inevitably, faced with this display of normal people whom many would have given up for lost, the public surrendered and while applauding them, they were actually cheering themselves, their never lost faith and the support given, not in all occasions just as spirited and dedicated, but always unconditional. Let’s say that the efforts, if they are true, are always fruitful.
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