The Rat Man Cometh

Theater
El Hombre de la Rata
Javier Velázquez and Ernesto Martínez
Fri–Sat, Nov 16–17, 8 pm
El Viejo Topo
Stirling Dickinson 28
In Spanish
150 pesos

“Not pleasure, not Glory, not Power; Freedom, only Freedom”
Fernando Pessoa

An ultramodern psycho, obsessed with peering over the world from the rings of Saturn, hallucinates that a beautiful little rat, with its snout pink as a nipple, grows until the sky bursts. What is this giant rat in the contemporary world? The empire of horror, emptiness, helplessness, insanity, power, unemployment, corruption, indifference? The endless monster of chaos?

The esquizoide laughs with anguish while he thinks passionately on war, death, adultery, solitude, God, crime. Humor that stimulates our imagination, our thinking.

Isamel Peraza, in El Hombre de la Rata, tells us the story of his life where lies, betrayal, blackmail, manipulation and hypocrisy are always present. This leads him to wander about the streets, going to rack and ruin, avoiding the rats, those rats that walk freely all around hurting, betraying, humiliating and infecting everyone.

Inspired by the monologue written by Gilberto Pinto (Caracas, 1930), adding texts of Gabriel Zaid, Fernando Pessoa and Samuel Beckett, and the original music—composed and played live by Ernesto Martínez—the writer, director and actor Javier Velázquez will present his own version of El Hombre de la Rata, a tragic farce in one act.

Javier has performed this play since 1983, has revised it several times, and has gained renown all over Latin America and in some US cities. He has won multiple national and world prizes for direction and acting, such as the AACT-FEST International in Des Moines, Iowa, and also in Detroit, Michigan.

In its fifth version, El Hombre de la Rata includes Ernesto Martínez, who has played as a session musician with Philip Glass in NY. Martínez plays the original composition on stage; the music represents and reinforces the inner thinking of the character.

The play is performed in Spanish, so if you are fluent, you will enjoy this magnificent tour de force of Javier and Ernesto, but even if you are not, don’t miss his impressive acting talent November 16 and 17.

Auditions for the Stuff of Dreams

Players’ Workshop open auditions
Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams 
Weds, Nov 21, 10:30am–noon
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25 

Players’ Workshop, with over 25 years and 100 productions under its belt, announces auditions for its January 2008 production, Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, a new play by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally and directed by Michael Gottlieb. The play requires four men, ages 25–60 and three women ages 20–70.

The story is about Lou and Jessie Nuncle who run a children’s theater in a strip-mall in upstate New York. With the possibility of taking over an abandoned vaudeville palace on Main Street, the Nuncles are forced to examine to what extremes their love of theater will take them to achieve their dreams. 

The New York Sun said Dedication was “A wistful and potent new play by Terrence McNally and gives new proof of the vitality of his chosen art form by showing that there is room on the stage for theater past, theater present, and theater future; and that if you are as good as he is, they can all be brought together behind one curtain.”

The Players’ Workshop production of Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams is scheduled January 14–20 in the Teatro Santa Ana. Rehearsals will begin in December. For more information, call the director at (044) 415-114-8671.

Literary Cabaret to perform benefit for new theatrical project at Teatro Santa Ana

Aficionados of The Literary Cabaret will be delighted to hear that the trio will perform in their usual inimitable and irreverent fashion at a champagne extravaganza.

The garden party (complete with cucumber sandwiches) on the afternoon of Sunday, November 18, will take place at a beautiful country home in Candelaria, a short taxi ride from town, and will be raising funds for a hilarious original theatrical production in partnership with Iguana Productions at the Teatro Santa Ana this Christmas. Tickets are for sale at El Tecolote book store, Jesus 11, email rickandmal@yahoo.ca.