Staging Lives in Latin American Theater: Bodies, Objects, Archives

Staging Lives in Latin American Theater explores twenty-first-century documentary theater in Latin America, focusing on important plays by Vivi Tellas, Lola Arias, Teatro LÍnea de Sombra, and Guillermo Calderón. Paola S. Hernández argues that material objects and archives come to life onstage, creating an affective relationship between actor and audience and visualizing truths long obscured by repressive political regimes.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2021
Publisher: Northwestern University Press

Staging Lives in Latin American Theater: Bodies, Objects, Archives delves into the vibrant realm of twenty-first-century documentary theater in Latin America, showcasing a captivating selection of significant works by renowned artists. The book focuses on the profound plays of the Argentine director Vivi Tellas, the Argentine playwright and director Lola Arias, the Mexican theater collective Teatro LÍnea de Sombra, and the Chilean playwright and director Guillermo CalderÓn. Through the insightful lens of Paola S. HernÁndez, the author explores how material objects and archives, including photographs, videos, and documents such as witness reports, legal briefs, and letters, come to life onstage, infusing the performances with a renewed sense of vitality. HernÁndez compellingly argues that these live performances serve as a cataloging mechanism, expanding and reinterpreting the meanings inherent in these archival materials. By creating an intimate and emotional connection between the actors and the audience, these performances unveil truths that have been long obscured by repressive political regimes, transforming theatrical spaces into sites of witness and testimony. Moreover, the book delves into the intricate interplay between fact and fiction, raising thought-provoking questions about the authenticity and reliability of the archive. Staging Lives in Latin American Theater is a meticulously researched, richly detailed, and theoretically expansive work that offers a diverse range of interpretations about how documentary theater can conceptualize the idea of self while also pioneering a new mode of testimony through theatrical practices.

Weight: 316g
Dimension: 228 x 152 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780810143364