Lautaro Perotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1975) is the writer and director of “Our Secret Acts,” a “thriller” that begins its tour tonight (8 p.m.) at the Niemeyer auditorium. He talks about his work on the phone with La Nueva España from the Prensa Ibérica group.
How did our “Secret Actions” go in Madrid?
The truth is that it was great: very well received by the public, sold out seats, good performances… The truth is that we are very happy.
Going back in time: Where did this story come from?
This came out a few years ago: Federico García Lorca’s “Yerma” had always fascinated me. It is a work that I have read again and again at different periods of my life and that resonates again and again. Even though it wasn’t very conscious, I realized a little late while writing that I was starting from what happened to her after she killed her husband. I’m not telling you that this is a sequel to “Yerma”: this is definitely not your story; But it is true that I realized that it was from him that I took the first step towards telling this story.
This wasn’t “Thelma and Louise” either.
No no no.
How did this project develop?
When I wrote it, we didn’t know when we were going to make it, when we were going to put it together, but we knew we were going to work with Carmen. [Machi] and with Santiago [Marín], two of the actors in the show. You feel all this in your head as you write. Next we had to look at the agenda item, specifically Carmen. Then, with the agenda in hand, we discuss when this can be done, etc. We saw it and that’s when the cast of Macarena García was completed. Afterwards, yes, there was a rehearsal and research work on the text and its features, and it was a moment when the actors added many cases from both their daily life and their past to the series, and thus I saw what the characters were like. . I can say that the working group was important before we started rehearsals because the cast was already in my mind.
How long did this take?
It’s been a month and a half, almost two months.
In Matadero they did this function with opposing stands, here in Avilés they go Italian style.
In reality, the job is designed to be done either way. The aim is to adapt this story to every place in the best way possible. When it was decided to hold the show in Matadero, we thought two stands would be the best way to tell this story because of the layout. The truth is we knew we had to work on one front because we knew that was what we would have in most areas. I mean, it’s half-assed from both angles in order to explain it better based on the scenario it’s in.
The show was born in Matadero and they start the tour in Avilés.
Well. We will give our first concert in Avilés.
You premiered “Rita”, your first performance at the Palacio Valdés. Pandemic.
Yeah yeah. I remember it very well: with social distance, with masks. You think from afar and you realize that the love and the decision to continue to do theatre, and the decision and love for people to continue to go to the theater in these circumstances: it’s actually anti-theatre. I remember being deeply moved by the public’s need to continue telling stories. The play “Rita”, we liked it very much, the way the public viewed us… I remember those days as an example of resistance and great love. Niemeyer is a theater I have never performed in before, but I know it and I am looking forward to a new experience. I have been to Asturias many times, and the Avilés audience always greets us with great love: the love I felt when “Rita” absolutely moved me. There is a highly educated audience: this is a challenge. They are theater people and you feel it.
Argentina’s new president Javier MileiIt seems he wants to destroy theater in his country.
The situation in Argentina is very serious; This is a very sad and hopeless situation. There is someone in the government elected by the people, but he does not seem to be able to fulfill these responsibilities. It destroys the economics of artists’ daily lives, especially our activities. All within a month and a half.