Lunchbox delivers hot Chile
Carmen Aguirre explores politics of South American nation from a child's point of view
REVIEW
CHILE CON CARNE
Runs until September 28
Lunchbox Theatre
In Chile, September 11 was a day of infamy long before the events of 2001. On that day in 1973, President Salvador Allende was murdered in a violent coup and General Augusto Pinochet seized control. It was the beginning of a 17-year national nightmare of bloody right-wing repression.
For Canadians, it was a time when a wave of Chilean refugees arrived on our shores and it seemed like every church in town sponsored at least one family. Lunchbox Theatre returns to those harrowing days with its latest production, Chile Con Carne. This is a one-woman show based on the experiences of Vancouver playwright and actress Carmen Aguirre. Movies, books and plays have been written about these events, but Aguirre gives them a new edge by showing them to us through the eyes of a child.
Chile Con Carne is a series of vignettes and events in the life of seven-year-old Manuelita, who has just moved to Canada with her parents. Despite the language problems and culture shock, Manuelita is a pretty typical kid. She finds the transition from Valparaiso to Vancouver tough going, but she manages pretty well.
This is a very loosely structured play with scenes framed by Chilean music and slides of news events and family photos. Manuelita goes to school for the first time, makes friends and begins to learn English. Through cards and letters she stays in touch with friends and family still in Chile.
It doesn’t matter if the audience knows anything about Chile or the Pinochet regime – Manuelita is a little girl, so she doesn’t dwell on politics. She talks about her father’s arrest and year-long imprisonment before the family came to Canada. She talks about a local hunger strike in solidarity with friends in Chile – for Manuelita it is a social occasion. She talks about the death of her grandmother, an event that becomes doubly tragic when the family is refused permission for even a short visit to Chile to attend the funeral.
Canada has received refugees from many different countries in recent years. Their stories have been told in the headlines, but by showing a similar experience from a child's perspective, Carmen Aguirre offers a new way to understand it. |
