(Mark Fisher’s article appeared in the Guardian, 9/5.)
It could be any Christmas reunion. There are the verbal rallies that turn into bickering arguments. There is the tipsy auntie who pops in from next door and offends everyone. There is the mixture of introspection, resentment and sentimentality.
But just below the surface in Guillermo Calderón's vibrant three-hander, staged by Chile's Teatro en el Blanco, is an altogether darker seam. There is something comical about the imperialist ranting of twin sister Paula, who slanders the neighbouring Peruvians for their panpipe music and the Bolivians for wearing too many clothes. But there is nothing funny about the references to eyeless army deserters, concentration camps and rape that slip into the conversation.
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