|
About the play:
A comedy that shows a
couple fallen into the rut of routine, taking each other for granted.
Suddenly, a broken television discloses the truth: to live, you need love,
understanding and tenderness … and in order to see, you must first open your
eyes!
From the director:
“Letting the Cat Out of the Bag”
Opening the first page of El Gran Deschave / The Cat’s Out
of the Bag was like opening the gateway to a grand venture. A play of
recognized challenge in South America, its delightfulness relies on the
truthfulness of directors and the believability of actors in creating
distinct phases and breadths of characters whose recollections leave
footprints of memorable quality.
Today, turning our gaze to one of the best theatrical eras
in Argentine theatrical history, Teatro de la Luna will allow the ghosts,
puppets and personalities that compose this realistic, vital story to run
rampant around our stage. A fresh vision, marked by time and distance,
allows a new generation of talented actors to take on and dive into this
controversial dream world.
I’m sure what will happen will be an odd communion between
actors and audience who, while delving into the play’s meaning, silently and
grudgingly, recognize that (and, why not?), little by little, ‘the cat’s out
of the bag!’
Mario Marcel
About the authors:
Sergio Amadeo De Cecco
(b. Buenos
Aires, 1931) At 18 he became a scriptwriter for radio while touring
throughout Argentina and America with the puppet theater De La Malasartes.
A scriptwriter for TV and a journalist, his first theatrical piece was
Durante el Ensayo / During the Rehearsal. He won a prize from the Minister
of Education for a readers’ theater piece, Prometeo, in 1956. Another award
came in 1958. El Reñidero, published in 1962, won the municipal award for
unpublished plays and was staged first at the Botanic Garden Theater and
later at the Municipal Gral. San Martín Theater. It was later filmed under
the direction of Rene Mujica, won third price from the Institute of
Cinematography, and was selected to represent its country at the Cannes Film
Festival. In 1965 Capocómico was performed at the Municipal Gral. San
Martín Theater’s Casacuberta stage. After a lapse of ten years, he returned
to the theater with El Gran Deschave / The Cat’s Out of the Bag, which
opened in 1975 directed by Carlos Grandolfo. It ran for three seasons. De
Cecco is one of Argentina’s most well-rounded playwrights. Although less
prolific than some authors, he brings a rare ability to his comedies, that
allows him to pass from candid realism, treading lightly on fragility, until
his work flows into black comedy without any transitions or, even more
important, concessions.
Armando Chulak
(b. Buenos Aires 1927 – d. Mar del Plata, Argentina 1975) He studied theater
with Hedy Crilla for whom he later worked as assistant director. He began
directing in 1950, acted in a Spanish language version of Our Town by
Thornton Wilder, and joined the Experimental Group of Theatrical Education,
which was directed by Roberto Duran. He adapted a children’s play,
Margarita, which was performed from 1956-57. With Héctor Llan de Rosos, he
wrote Chavito y Chaveta, staged in 1959-60. He settled in Mar del Plata in
1957, where he took on the jobs of Director of Programming, Director of
Announcers and Artistic Director of a radio station. He also worked on the
journalistic staff of Channel 8, was theater, cinema and art critic for the
newspaper La Mañana from 1958, and was a correspondent for the magazines
“Teatro XX” and “Talía.” He joined several Argentine comedy teams. In Mar
del Plata, he took the department chair for interpretation at the Municipal
School of Scenic Arts (1964-65) and directed the Center of Dramatic
Education. He published several books of poems, including La Senda Estrecha,
Balada para Esperarte, and Fábulas y Morales. After a long career in the
theater, in 1973 he began to write a play with Sergio De Cecco, with the
working title of Final Feliz, or Happy Ending. After Chulak’s death, De
Cecco changed the name to El Gran Deschave / The Cat’s Out of the Bag.
Cast |
