Run-time (hh:mm:ss): 00:19:45
Language:
In Spanish.
Synopsis: José, a man who has lost his memory, wanders along a country that he no longer feels his own, a place that no longer holds
affective ties, personal memories linking him to a community. One day he meets Toña, a woman of great kindness, alienated
due to a profound lack of affection. She tells him that in a nearby beach, many years ago, people used to go to sleep and
dream a collective dream and that, in this dream, theirs pasts and the characters who lived there show up once again. José,
conflicted by his loss of memory decides to go to this beach to dream in order to build, out of dreams, his lost identity.
'Jardín de pulpos' ('Octopus's Garden') is a journey through memory and identity, a painful metaphor of losses and absences,
a space of the subconscious where Latin America's collective imagery wanders amidst its struggles, exiles, and oblivion. This
video documents key excerpts from Malayerba's renowned production.The Grupo de Teatro Malayerba (teatromalayerba.org) was founded in Quito in 1979 by Arístides Vargas, Susana Pautasso and
María del Rosario 'Charo' Francés, immigrant actors originally from Argentina and Spain. From the start, Malayerba included
actors with various backgrounds and nationalities, invested in the exploration of the rich cultural diversity and complex
history of Ecuador, as well as issues of migration, exile, political violence and individual and collective memory. With over
25 years of ongoing theater practice and more than 20 plays performed locally and internationally for a diverse audience,
Malayerba is committed to theater pedagogy and experimentation, artistic collaboration, and community building. They have
represented Ecuador in national and international theater festivals; they have also collaborated with theater groups within
Ecuador and in other countries, and performed for both film and television, while engaging in community work in Quito.In 1989 the group created the Laboratorio Malayerba, committed to the training of generations of young Ecuadorian actors and
to an ongoing investigation of theories and practices of experimental theater. In 2001 Malayerba launched the theater journal
'Hoja de Teatro,' conceived as a forum for the theorization, criticism and dissemination of Ecuadorian theater practices.
The group also runs a theater house, the Casa Malayerba, which houses the Laboratory as well as a theater with seating capacity
for seventy people. Malayerba approaches theater making as an artistic, ethical and technical realm where to engage in meaningful
creative experiences through which to understand, assume and confront current sociopolitical processes.In working together, actors with various backgrounds and nationalities have shown that a multicultural blend is not only possible
but also enriching, as differences lead to new identities, embodiments of dreams, memories, absences and pains that are at
once local and universal.
Copyright Information:
"Materials of the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library are protected by
copyright. They may not be copied, downloaded, or reproduced. The owner of this work has granted
NYU Libraries non-exclusive rights to include this material in the Hemispheric Institute Digital
Video Library and to make it accessible to the public for educational and research purposes.
Requests to purchase or for permission to use the work should be directed to the owner."
Copyright Holder: Grupo de Teatro Malayerba
Contact: Arístides Vargas
Address:
Arístides Vargas
Sodiro 345 y 6 de Diciembre (junto a la Iglesia del Belén, sector Alameda)
Quito, Ecuador
Phone(Business): +593-2223-5463
Phone(Fax): +593-2223-5463
Email: teatromalayerba@gmail.com
Website: www.facebook.com/teatromalayerba.ecuador
Copyright Holder: Grupo de Teatro Malayerba
Contact: Arístides Vargas
Address:
Arístides Vargas
Sodiro 345 y 6 de Diciembre (junto a la Iglesia del Belén, sector Alameda)
Quito, Ecuador
Phone(Business): +593-2223-5463
Phone(Fax): +593-2223-5463
Email: teatromalayerba@gmail.com
Website: www.facebook.com/teatromalayerba.ecuador

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