Table Of ContentTheatre, Performance, and Memory
Politics in Argentina
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Theatre, Performance, and Memory
Politics in Argentina
BrendaWerth
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theatre,performance,andmemorypoliticsinargentina
Copyright©BrendaWerth,2010
Allrightsreserved.
Firstpublishedin2010byPALGRAVEMACMILLAN®inthe
UnitedStates-adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,175FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NY10010.
WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestof
theWorld,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan
PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,
ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove
companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited
States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN:978–0–230–10434–1
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Werth,BrendaG.
Theatre,performance,andmemorypoliticsinArgentina/BrendaWerth.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978–0–230–10434–1(alk.paper)
1. Theaterandsociety—Argentina. 2. Theater—Politicalaspects—
Argentina. 3. Argentinedrama—20thcentury—Historyand
criticism. 4. Politicsandliterature—Argentina. I. Title.
PN2451.W472010
306.4(cid:2)8480982—dc22 2010009103
DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices
Firstedition:October2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction:Theatre,Performance,andMemoryPolitics
inArgentina 1
1 TransitionandthePerformanceofRetroactiveJustice 25
2 FromAntigonetoOrpheus:AlternativeMythsand
FiguresofMourning 49
3 PerformingConfessionsOnstageandontheStand 69
4 Argentina’sPostdictatorialStages:RestingPlacesand
PlacesofUnrest 99
5 Argentina’sMiddleClass:ParadigmofCrisisand
Renewal 133
6 IntergenerationalMemoryandPerformativeActs
ofRecovery 173
Conclusion 197
Notes 209
Bibliography 233
Index 249
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Acknowledgments
This book has benefitted immensely from conversations I have had
with Argentine theatre practitioners and artists over the years. I am
grateful to Griselda Gambaro, Eduardo Pavlovsky, Ricardo Monti,
LauraYusem,EmilioGarcíaWehbi,NormanBriski,CristinaEscofet,
Daniel Veronese, Alberto Ure, César D’Angiolillo, Eduardo Rovner,
Héctor Levy-Daniel, and Vivi Tellas for their kindness and willing-
ness to meet to discuss their work with me. At Rutgers, Tomás Eloy
Martínez very generously put me in contact withmany of these indi-
viduals. My deepes thanks go to Osvaldo Pellettieri for his scholarly
guidance and for allowing me access to the GETEA (Grupo de estu-
dios de teatro argentino, University of Buenos Aires) research group
andtheatrelibraryfrom2003to2005.IamalsoindebtedtoElizabeth
Jelinforfacilitatingmyaffiliationwiththeresearchgrouponmemory
studies (Núcleo de estudios sobre la memoria), housed at the Insti-
tute of Economic and Social Development (IDES) at the University
of Buenos Aires. My heartfelt thanks go out to Emilio Crenzel and
Rossana Nofal for their scholarly insights and for providing valuable
feedbackonmyproject.
In Buenos Aires I have had the opportunity to establish ongo-
ing dialogue with Argentine theatre scholars. I am grateful to Jorge
Dubatti for the chance to attend his Escuela de espectadores (Specta-
torship School) and to witness the lively exchange of ideas circulated
among spectators of contemporary theatre in Buenos Aires. Beatriz
Trastoy kindly met with me on several occasions and provided excel-
lentfeedbackonthearticlesIsubmittedtoTelondefondo,aUniversity
ofBuenosAiresjournalthatshedirectsontheatricaltheoryandcriti-
cism.ManythankstoMartínRodríguezforilluminatingkeyfeatures
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viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
of nineteenth-century Argentine theatre, to Lucas Rimoldi for his
intriguinginsightsontwenty-first-centurytheatre,andtoGrisbyOgás
Puga,whohasbeenaconstantcollaboratoraswellasadearfriend.
While undertaking research in Buenos Aires between 2003 and
2005Icameincontactwithmanyincredibleindividuals,whoseinput
made a significant contribution to this project. I would like to thank
KerryBystrom,KellyRaspberry,MichelleCohen,JulietaVitullo,May
Summer Farnsworth, Mireille Abelin, and Rachel Galvin for sharing
ideas and reading early versions of parts of the manuscript. I am also
grateful for the wonderful community of researchers and friends in
BuenosAiresfrom2003to2005:GastónGiribet,AnalíaYaker-Valle,
AmyKirschenbaum,JenniferAdair,KarenFaulk,FelipeGómez,Sarah
MacCarthy, Julia Sarreal, Xavier Pardo, and Veera Jansa. And were
it not for Lisandro Aronín, this project would never have come to
fruition.
Always kind, warm, and professional, the librarians at the theatre
library Argentores, Blanca Lozano and Federico Rodríguez Salcedo,
wereextraordinarilyhelpful,assistingmeinlocatingmanuscriptsand
putting me in contact with playwrights. My utmost gratitude goes to
Kive Staiff, director of the Complejo Teatral de Buenos Aires, and to
Ana María Monti, in the Press Department at the San Martín The-
atre, for authorizing use of photographs. Also, I would like to thank
Carolina Soler for her creative vision in designing the cover image of
thebook.
I have been fortunate to have institutional support at different
stages of the project. American University awarded me a summer
MellonresearchstipendtoundertakeresearchinBuenosAires(2007)
and granted me a junior leave (2008), which were essential to com-
pleting the manuscript. I would like to thank my colleagues Jack
Child, Amy Oliver, Consuelo Hernández, and Ana Serra for their
unwavering encouragement and for reading drafts of proposals. My
research assistants, Mary Elizabeth Pritchard and Matthew Smith,
offered meticulous assistance with archival work, formatting, and
bibliographical searches. One major source of academic and personal
supporthasbeenthewritinggroupthatemergedcross-departmentally
at American University. I am deeply grateful to Susan Shepler,
Kate Haulman, Rachel Sullivan Robinson, Adrea Lawrence, Kristin
Diwan, and Elizabeth Anderson Worden, for reading several chapter
drafts.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
While a graduate student at Rutgers, I received a fellowship from
theTransliteraturesprogram,whichgavemetheopportunitytospend
a year in Buenos Aires (2003–2004) to conduct research and writ-
ing. Also, the project would not have been possible without the
support of a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
grant(2004–2005),whichpermittedmeanadditionalyearofresearch
and broadened my network of scholars in Buenos Aires. The mem-
bersofmydissertationcommittee,CamillaStevens,MarcySchwartz,
and Phyllis Zatlin, had a major role in the development of this
project.Theirintellectualrigorandprofessionalismmadewritingthe
dissertationapleasure.Iamalsogratefultohavehadthechancetopar-
ticipateintheproductivedialoguegeneratedattheBerlinRoundtables
on Memory Politics, sponsored by the Irmgard Coninx Foundation
(October,2009).SpecialthanksgotoMagdalenaZolkosandSusanne
Buckley-Zistel for their effective leadership of our workgroup on
politicaldiscourse.
A number of U.S.-based individuals have had significant influence
on the shape and direction of this project. I would like to thank
Brigitte Shull and Lee Norton at Palgrave for their support, patience,
andprofessionalismthroughouttheprocess.MygratitudegoestoJean
Graham-Jonesforherexcellentfeedbackasexternalreaderofmydis-
sertation and for her helpful comments on a draft of chapter 4, on
Ricardo Monti. I am also grateful to her for involving me in the
BAiT (Buenos Aires in Translation, NYC, 2006) project, directed by
Shoshana Polanco, which provided me with a fantastic opportunity
to work with four up-and-coming Argentine playwrights premiering
their work in New York City. My sincere thanks go to Stuart Day
forhiscarefulreadingandenlighteningcommentsonthemanuscript
and to Carey Kasten and Maria Cabo for providing valuable com-
ments on several chapters. I would also like to express my utmost
regardandappreciationforGailBulman,MónicaBotta,NoeMontez,
SharonMagnarelli,SarahMisemer,LolaProañoGómez,MaríaSilvina
Persino, and Ariel Strichartz, whose scholarship on Argentine theatre
hascontributedsignificantlytothisprojectindifferentways.Lastbut
notleast,IwouldalsoliketothankPaolaHernández,KerryBystrom,
and May Summer Farnsworth for being faithful collaborators, critics,
voicesofreason,andmostofallwonderfulfriends.
Several conferences have been particularly important in the evolu-
tion of the project. The Latin American Theatre Today conferences
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