Journalist: What was it like to rehearse and record in the context of a pandemic with protocol?
Francisco Lumerman: Since I wrote the audiovisual version I knew that it would be developed under a pandemic protocol, that worked in favor of the material. In practical terms it was designed for that and we were able to anticipate the stress that this whole situation could entail. The recording was very calm having all those points clear to be able to enjoy it knowing that we took care of ourselves. The material had contemplated from its conception that the protocol be complied with.
Q .: What is the original work that you hope to premiere next year at the Regio about?
F.L.: The original work is based on ‘The Master of the World’ by Alfonsina Storni. It is from 1928 and tells the story of a woman who does not adapt to the rules of that world, fights against patriarchal structures with the cost that it implies. The play that was going to be premiered at the Regio is a supposed dress rehearsal for that play and a game that was not purely Alfonsina’s work. From that we devised this audiovisual version that shows the supposed auditions of that cast before rehearsals began. You see me as a director trying to carry out an audiovisual material in a pandemic, hence we are wearing masks and chinstraps, and those pre-covid auditions. There is a behind-the-scenes and documentary snippets.
Q .: How did you come to the universe of Alfonsina Storni?
F.L.: I knew very little about her. When Eva Halac summoned me to the Regio and presented me with this material, I found a powerful, current work and I was very impressed that it had that clarity in its speech, in addition to its incredible prose and poetry. When she wrote theater, it was the land of male playwrights and she made her way. There is something of the little space that it had that was replicated in a premiere at the Cervantes in 1928 and lasted just three days on the bill. They took her down due to bad reviews, although I suspect it had to do with the theme of the work and with her daring to step on someone else’s territory. Later I discovered the character of Alfonsina that I did not know so much, her biography. I appreciated his work more after knowing his story.
Q .: What did you gain and what did you lose in the passage from the scenic to the audiovisual?
F.L.: I find interesting the ways that are beginning to appear as options for those of us who do theater. The search is that it is not filmed theater but something else, so the idea was to take only something of the work, an atmosphere, without getting involved with the text and knowing that we will do it at some point in the theater. Its nature is deeply theatrical. I found an article where Alfonsina told about the kitchen of the play and why she thinks it failed at the premiere. That’s when I found the story of a present in a pandemic where we filmed a documentary about how the precovid auditions were.
Q .: Only a few such as San Martín or Cervantes can finance theater in audiovisual support, what about independent theater?
F.L.: We run the Moscow theater and audiovisual work is more expensive than theatrical. Those who dedicate themselves to the cinema do not usually not charge like the people of the off theater, with which the budget increases a lot from the beginning. And streaming is very difficult to perform in terms of ticket office because that consumption is not very high and there is also a lot of free, when you have to pay it is more complex. Independent theaters thrive on the genuine bias of doing something, we are that, and during this year we were very busy surviving and sustaining the spaces. Some of that also plays out when creating. We with Moscow developed ‘Collective stories of a quarantined neighborhood’ where we call on neighbors to tell their pandemic experiences as they wish. And with funding from Switzerland and the Metropolitan Fund, we were able to develop it, even with a very modest mode of production.
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