Only I Escaped presents four older women who gather in the courtyard of a house to talk about everyday topics, from the weather to personal memories. However, as the conversation progresses, deep cracks in the apparent tranquility of their lives are revealed. The women's small talk is interrupted by the disturbing vision of a world plagued by catastrophe and despair.
This is the synopsis of the play written by the English playwright Caryl Churchill (London, 1938) that the young director Vanessa Vizcarra presents at the Teatro de la Universidad del Pacífico and with an outstanding cast made up of Milena Alva, Ana Cecilia Natteri, Liliana Trujillo and Celeste Viale.
You saw the work in 2016, right at its premiere in London. What was it that caught you?
I think I felt that the work mixed things that, I think, cannot be mixed. There is humor, but there is also a feeling of the end of the world, of horror, and when those two things supposedly should not be together it gives me a very powerful feeling. On the one hand it makes me laugh at the horror and on the other hand scare me at the humor and in that intersection there is something very interesting and of these times. I really like this English author, she writes texts that are very much of this time, and the fact that there are four female characters also caught me a lot. It is not so common in theatrical texts. It is not so common for the voices to be mainly or exclusively female. I liked that a lot too.
The director remembers that before seeing Only I Escaped she had read two works by Churchill, and when she traveled to study a master's degree in Arts at the University of London, Birkbeck School, and heard about its premiere, she saw the great opportunity to watch it “fresh out of the oven, in English, too. I didn't even understand many things (laughs), but I still found it fascinating, she captivated me.”
He adds that since then he decided to stage it in Lima and sought out Sergio Llusera (director of the Cultural Center of the Universidad del Pacífico), but the pandemic and then other issues prevented the premiere.
Regarding his protagonists, he says that he always thought about them. “But you will understand that the times of these great actresses did not coincide, but it usually happens that the plays choose their cast, and it is true, it is one of those magical things and, finally, with advance notice we managed to have these four actresses.”
How would you define this story? What does that mean?
Starting with the fact that it is not an easy work to digest. I enjoy it a lot and I wonder and hope in each performance that the public enjoys it too. It is particular, difficult to define. They (the protagonists) have been wonderful. There has been a lot of understanding between us as a group. This author always challenges you to enjoy whatever she sets before you for what it is. Without trying to put it into a mold. And in this case this has the added bonus that we have this cast that is totally enjoyable. It is a meeting between four women in which there are funny, exciting, absurd moments, and all of that is mixed.
Liliana Trujillo. Experienced and renowned actress in the scene of 'Only I Escaped'.
Another plus of the play is a song that is sung by the cast and the audience: 'The cat that is sad and blue' by Roberto Carlos. “It is a song in black and white, which is tied to the history of these 70-year-old women, but which I think the new generations sing.”
How long does the season last?
Only I Escaped runs until May 13, Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8:30 pm and Sundays at 7:00 pm At the Teatro de la Universidad del Pacífico, jirón Luis Sánchez Cerro 2121, Jesús María. Entries on Joinnus web platform. Ticket office not available at the theater.
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