© GZA. SOL LEVINAS / THE DARK HOUSE PRESS
The pandemic could not stop the theatrical activity of Mariela Asensio. As a playwright and director, she began the year with a show that was very significant, marking a before and after: Women in the bathroom. It continues on Fridays and Saturdays at 10 pm, at the Picadero theater. Here she anticipates new stagings.
“Why did you go back to Women in the Bath?”
“I always knew I was going to check it out.” It’s not the same. I premiered the first one fifteen years ago and many things changed. The work had a very marked gender perspective and proclaimed itself feminist. It was challenging for me to do it again because that one was old. In 2007 all the actresses were from the same generation, in their thirties and now they are not. In the cast today are: Maida Andrenacci, Laura Conforte, Laura Cymer, Esther Goris and Karina Hernández. I rewrote the text before materializing it, but knowing that I wanted there to be women of different ages and break that aesthetic look. I did not want to repeat any name of the previous one. The characters changed. Before, sex/affective had a lot of prominence, while now there is the relationship with the house, with work, with the private and the public.
—Now there are complaints of abuse and mistreatment: do these problems appear?
—The specific abuse does not appear, but inequality and social injustice are evident, which are also forms of abuse. There are many speeches that put in check the place that was given to women historically, questions it and rebels against it. There is always abuse when there is inequality. The work has a lot of humor and irony, I feel that they are very powerful weapons to tell.
“And the public?”
-In this new instance many men come, it is more mixed and you also see very different generations. I’m very happy to hear it. It is a very musical play, with original songs. It is not a musical comedy, but it is a proposal with this imprint.
-It’s not your only show on the billboard…
—No, we continue with Perdida mente, in which I am co-author with Muscari, and with the bio drama about mental health entitled The dark house that we created with Maruja Bustamante. We’re at the Galpón de Guevara on Fridays at 9 pm and in May we’ll go on tour. I am going to direct a new production of Gorda by Neil Labute, which had been made in 2008, directed by Veronese. We are putting together the cast. We will release it between August and September. I also continue with Galia Gutmann’s show –I have things to do- that moves from Maipo to La Plaza. This year they also called me to direct the show that Teatro por la Identidad is going to produce.
—How was directing Gutmann coming from stand up?
“She went out looking for a director. She wanted to improve herself and make a more theatrical show. I collaborated on the previous one, but here I did the staging. Dalia didn’t have the exercise to be directed and neither did I to do it with someone who came from stand up. It was an adventure and fun, together we found a way. I learned to lead in a different code. Today we can say that we put together a very good team.
“Is there time for other projects?”
“I’m still teaching. Not only do I teach at the EMAD, but we also set up a training and improvement workshop in dramaturgy at the Somigliana Foundation with the Teatro del Pueblo for the first time. We are six teachers: Andrés Binetti, Roberto Perinelli, Horacio Banega, Adela Basch and Patricia Suarez. It is very important since being virtual it will be federal and they will also be able to participate from other parts of the world.
the new cast
“Did you summon the actresses?”
—If together with the producer -Paola Luttini- we decided what the cast would be. I did not want to repeat any name of the previous one. The characters changed. It is not a musical comedy, but it is a proposal with this imprint.
—There are new stage and choreography designs, but you kept the costume designer and the musician: why?
—Just as I wrote the text, Mauro García Barbe did the same with the music, it is his authorship and gives it identity. The tracks are recorded and they sing live. I wanted new looks for the scenery and the choreography. He did not go unhappy but to try something different.
—Women in the bathroom went from the off to Corrientes Avenue, something infrequent those years…
—It was intended for the stage of the Callejón but it overflowed the margins, tickets were sold out. Daniel Grinbank came to see her and suggested we take her to a commercial theater. Today this is more common, but not in those years. For the time it was a novelty how he raised the issues.
—Do you think that some prejudices such as age or beauty are still valid?
—A Madonna continues to be bullied, because of her age. It is as if they do not forgive her that at sixty-three years old she is still active and being a desiring woman, that she dances and laughs. They seek to ridicule her all the time. Many things have changed, progress is indisputable, but we are still less in many spaces. We must not lose sight of the structure, nor lower our guard. There are no equality laws for culture and if there is no legislation, it does not change. There can be no passing wills.