Testimony of Corporal Print and Traceable Sediments after El puro lugar

Abstract

The article focuses on a political site-specific theatre experience in Xalapa, Veracruz, México. El puro lugar (The pure place) is the name of the project of which I share several insights to reflect on the possibilities of art as a mediator in a politically violent context. The main question that led our practice was to ask ourselves to what extent artistic practice can help us, artists and citizens, to relate to our present history in an active way, allowing us to go into forbidden places marked by oblivion and physical aggression. It is written from a testimonial point of view, bringing together active memories of an embodied political statement, a creative act of resilience while looking for freedom in a wrecked place.

Notes

1 The project group was formed by the artistic director of Teatro Linea de Sombra (TLS), Jorge Vargas, and his assistant, Alejandro Flores, and the artistic director, Luis Mario Moncada, and actors from Organización Teatral de la Universidad Veracruzana (ORTEUV): Alba Domínguez, Benjamín Castro, Brisei Guerrero, Carlos Ortega, David Ike, Enrique Vásquez, Esther Castro, Florentino Santiago Córdoba, Gema Muñoz, Gustavo Schaar, Héctor Moraz, Hosmé Israel, Félix Lozano, Freddy Palomec, José Palacios, Jorge Castillo, Juana María Garza, Karina Meneses, Karla Camarillo, Laura Andrade, Luisa Garza, Luz María Ordiales, Marisol Osegueda, Miriam Cházaro, Marco Rojas, Raúl Santamaría, Raúl Pozos, Rogerio Baruch, Rosalinda Ulloa, Valeria España and Yoruba Romero. I was invited since the beginning of the project to collaborate as actress and specialized political theatre researcher. Other outside collaborators were Martha Rodriguez Mega as production assistant, Joaquín López ‘Chas’ for sound and music arrangements and Samuel Padilla Adorno as official photographer.

2 The perspective from which I reflect about site-specific art in this paper is related to how it is defined in ‘Four Principles about Site-Specific Theatre: A conversation on architecture, bodies, and presence’: ‘Rather than viewing a space as a place to construct a theatre, site-specific work takes the space for what it is, without major alteration, and reveals it in new ways through performance’, (Bowditch, Rachel et al, 2018).

3 For further information about the chapters see my Spanish publication (Guerrero, 2017).

4 The open call is available to read in the project official website: http://bit.ly/35ITVy0 For further insights from the point of view of a specialized theatre spectator please check ‘El puro lugar de la violencia: docufricción escénica en la ciudad de Xalapa, Veracruz’ (Stambaugh, Antonio Prieto, 2018).