The reunion of a father and son in a country that hurts

The scene is the same, but time has taken its toll.. The action takes place in a painter’s workshop, a huge atelier in an old mansion, located in a neighborhood where Before, at night, you could hear the murmur of crickets, but now gunshots and police sirens resound. As in so many other neighborhoods, twenty or a little more years later, in a country that – paraphrasing Borges – hurts throughout the body.

The painter is the father, an artist who dreamed of leaving, while his son, who also intended a career in art, tried to convince him to stay. But 2001 soon arrived, the banging of pots and pans, the “let everyone go”, the loss of faith, the desperationand the one who ended up leaving was the son, and the one who stayed was the father.

In “My distant land”the work of Eduardo Rovner (1942-2019), both had the future ahead of them. The crisis had not yet occurred, but it was looming. He reunion, with so much past behind them, will occur from this Wednesday in “The rain will continue to fall”, by Oscar Barney Finn and Marcelo Zapata, which returns to those characters. The actors are the same as then: Paulo Brunetti, the son, and Osvaldo Santoro, the father. The staging, also like in “My Distant Land,” is by Barney Finn.

Both recognize the desire they always had not only to work together again, but to recover those characters, to know what became of them. “My meeting with Paulo was beautiful,” he continues Santoro. “We made a version that, although 90% was Rovner’s, the other 10% is due to what he introduced Barney Finn, your changes, your suggestions. AND a work came out that left us marked: We were on the bill for three years, at El Andamio; We had very good reviews, we toured. It was very important in our lives, to the point that during the pandemic we made a read version, which had a high impact.”

“Barney Finn always looked for works so that we could rediscover ourselves as actors, but for different reasons that was being postponed -go on Brunetti—; I don’t know if it was this new crisis that woke up not only in Barney, but in Marcelo Zapata (who last year already worked with him on the book of “Brutus”), the possibility of imagining and writing the reunion between this father and this son, and also that of the two of us as actors. This play would not be the same if another actor were there instead of Osvaldo, or if my role was played by another.”

“In ‘My distant land’ —he continues—, a father-son relationship was established between us; I have similarities with his son and he with my father. And during these twenty-three years of friendship the relationship strengthened more, although of course it has nothing to do with the one these characters have in fiction.”

“That time was one of change,” he says. Santoro—, includes a trajectory of the two along different paths, growth in various fields, cinema, theater, television; and now, at the reunion, We have to fight so that the previous relationship does not reappear in the work, because it is no longer the same. They are the same characters, yes, but with a long life and numerous changes, surprises. These revelations occur during the play and are reciprocal, that gives the dramaturgy an interesting, emotional and at the same time reflective characteristic.”

Did you imagine, when you represented “My distant land”, that these characters would have a future on stage? “What we imagined was the film, which barney “I could have directed, and that was a good possibility,” he replies. Brunetti. “When you have a good theatrical experience,” he continues Santoror “always retain the desire to get it back. So this return is a great way to fulfill that wish. The son returns, after so many years, and a new conflict opens.”

“I am not going to advance details of the argument,” he says. Brunetti— but it is one thing to return because you want to, and another to do so because of a specific need, which is what happens in the work. What happens to the characters is very close to what we thought their future could be like. It has been a long time since I rehearsed a play with such enthusiasm.“It’s because, I repeat, there is a very strong relationship with Osvaldo, we wanted to meet again.”

The social function

“The acting profession has an important social function —acota Santoro—. And when one finds the right work, whether it is a classic, which is always current, or a contemporary work, which can account for what is happening in the current time, that function is fulfilled, and the public appreciates it. This work that we are about to release also satisfies me in that aspect that has to do with the social. I’m sure many will identify with my character: unfulfilled dreams, or half-fulfilled ones; the country’s difficulties, the lack of appreciation. All of that is present”.

Brunetti He adds, “I like what is said to the public: ‘If you have a father, or a son, talk to him.’ Don’t waste time because then it’s too late. Of ‘My distant land’, Nina Cortese [la recordada crítica de teatro que escribía sus columnas en Ambito Financiero] said: ‘It’s a hug, a pat on the shoulder, a welcome word of encouragement.’ And I think ‘The Rain Will Keep Falling’ goes the same way.. The hopeful thing is that after so long they talk to each other again, they say the things they had kept quiet about.”

“Exactly,” he adds. Santoro—, because beyond what happens between them, which we are not going to anticipate, the important thing is that the meeting occurs. There is a hope. Also, allow me to say something totally personal: I am returning to the theater after overcoming a tumor on my vocal cords. I thought my career was over. Therefore, the joy of returning with Paulo, with Oscar, and now with Marcelo, is enormous.. What’s more: I don’t know if I could have returned with another work. With this team there is a very great emotional weight and of a long time. “Here the process that must be gone through with a new cast, which is adaptation, was not necessary.”

Just as father and son changed so much in these years, how did the public change? “So many things changed! When we did the first work social networks did not exist; There were cell phones, the first ones, but we didn’t live attached to them; “Nobody sent WhatsApp to each other.”reflect Santoro. “That is the world that the son brings to the scene, who works with Artificial Intelligence, that technical prodigy that at the same time can leave us all out of work.”

“But to get to the topic of the public,” he adds. Brunetti—, What happened before was that the parents felt identified with the father’s character, and the children with mine. But today, this work presents two characters of paternal age, and facing each other: that, surely, will divide the identifications. I’m also going to add something personal, which has to do with my character. Both he and I no longer live in the country, we see the crises in Argentina in a different way. And that also has a strong weight for me”

“And I would like to highlight,” he continues Brunetti– that Any viewer can see this work, that is, it is not necessary to have seen ‘Distant Land of Mine’ to understand it.. It may possibly awaken in more than one the curiosity to approach the text of the initial work. And I think that many of those who saw the previous play will rush to see this one: I have many friends, actors, directors, who saw me there for the first time. For me ‘Distant Land of Mine’ was a turning point: summoned by Barney Finn, after being in ‘Madame Mao’, it was the first time I got on stage to play a co-starring role with an actor of Osvaldo’s career. It was a mobilizing work, and wherever we did it.”

The scenery of “The rain will continue to fall” It has original paintings by the plastic artist Carlos Gómez Centurión (some pre-existing and others made specifically); It is executive produced by Tomás Heck, sponsored by the family Cabrales, and will go on stage on Wednesday the 5th at 8pm at the Beckett Teatro (Guardia Vieja 3556).