warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Radar L.A. Review: 'El Año en Que Nací' At The LATC

Isabel M. Castro |
September 29, 2013 | 10:28 a.m. PDT

Contributing Writer

"El Año en Que Nací" by Lola Arias. Photo by David Alarcón.
"El Año en Que Nací" by Lola Arias. Photo by David Alarcón.
Tragedy, political repression, and humor deliver an honest documentary theater experience based on true historical personal accounts of case members in the production of "El Año en Que Nací (The Year I Was Born)" by Lola Arias.

In 90 fast-paced minutes, compelling and enthralling stories emerge through the uncensored voices of a segment of a new generation of “Chilenos” not often heard let alone experienced. This creative and dynamic performance took its audience back in time to an era that chronicled the complex lives of eleven Chilean performers born between 1971 and 1989. The natural, enthusiastic cast of six females and five males weaved intimate personal narratives taken from the day they were born and reconstruct the lives of their parents at a time when Chile was in political turmoil.

A screen projecting historical photos of Allende, Pablo Neruda and Richard Nixon served as a backdrop to contextualize the story pre and post September 11, 1973, when Augusto Pinochet, an Army General of Chile, lead a coup d'état and overthrew Salvador Allende's elected socialist government. During 1973–90, General Pinochet ruled Chile with a heavy hand and operated a police state that suppressed political parties and punished and persecuted anyone who opposed his regime.

ALSO SEE: Radar L.A. Review: 'Tercer Cuerpo' At The LATC

Arias gave each cast member free reign in the delivery of their brutal, horrifying and sometimes comical narratives. Spoken all in Spanish with English surtitles, the actors had divergent voices in each scene as the direction of the play took on challenging aspects of the country’s polarized and often complex political system. Each of the actors’ narratives spoke about the various parental political roles they took, such as government resistors, the left, the moderates in middle that would vacillate back and forth operating on self survival, and those that were exiled.

Graphic candid accounts of the cast members were real life experiences: tragic, disturbing, comical and catty as they called each other without malice or censorship like a childhood romp in a middle school line up. The wit of the dialogue gave way to sporadic outbursts of laughter to drown out moments of uncomfortable stress. Minimal sets were creatively constructed with the most basic of props and use of overhead projection. Real-time hand-manipulated maps, playing war with toy soldiers and a dozens of period photos were some of the props used which added quaintness to the already low-tech production value of the play. Actors took turns telling their stories with the wit and humor that can only be said in the Spanish language. The narration of the story moves with the accompaniment of the piercing cords and strums of electric guitar as the wa-wa pedals transition for new scenes.

ALSO SEE: Radar L.A. Review: 'Rodney King' At The Kirk Douglas Theatre

Arias punctuates the choreography of scene and dialogue with inclusion of key historical fascist government terms such as MIR, the Revolutionary Left Movement and names like “mujer gomera,” the wife of a policeman. A maze of high political drama is non-stop as storytellers throw more political acronyms than a fast-paced baseball pitcher at the World Series. The mood of the scenes transitions to childhood humor, keeping the focus of the acts fresh and lively, as Arias crafts the engaging pace of this documentary-theater style.

Although the production at times is simple with a bit of technical audio strain, the message and spirit of the performance is bold and powerful. Particularly, the finale as the ensemble cast ends with a thunderous, electrifying, hair-raising musical opus to remember. The work of Arias in “The Year I Was Born” is yet another example of how new audiences need to be educated, engaged and informed about the historical turning points of our neighbors in the Americas.

"El Año en Que Nací (The Year I Was Born)" is playing through September 29 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles). Tickets are $15-$25. For more information visit the Radar L.A. Website here.

More coverage of the Radar L.A. Festival 2013 can be found here.

Contact Contributing Writer Isabel here or follow her on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness