After the Falklands War, yuyachkani presented ‘Los músicos ambulantes’ in Argentina and they were dismissed as rock stars. “It was a cry from Peru, Peru, Peru! … it was impressive. As in the work there are 4 different animals, it was to think of a united Latin America. And migration is the great issue of these times”, Miguel Rubio answers us by phone. The cultural group performs tomorrow and Sunday at the Gran Teatro Nacional with the same cast and with its “tradition” of staging its critical thinking. “Forgetfulness is a latent threat,” he adds.
— There is a phrase in the work: “hope is the penultimate thing that is lost” Who is Yuyachkani addressing?
— Our first public were the workers, the migrants. In search of that spectator, of that scenario that was the sports field, the union local, we have formed there. He is an audience that does not concede, that if they don’t like it, they get up and leave. He has demanded that his themes not be a backdrop, but leading themes. That spectator for us has been a transforming agent.
— The work reminds us that we are, in a certain sense, in the same place. What do you think of the validity of this piece?
— We are in a tough crisis with no way out, from this political class that really is not up to the task of this wonderful country, we do not deserve this entrapment. ‘Los músicos ambulantes’, from that small place that is the theater, is speaking to us of a dream of dialogue of the diverse, in a confronted country. It is the most modest work, the least pretentious, but the one that taught us the most about the trade and the country.
— In the script, they are excluded artists. And, currently, only in the theater and in the cinema do you see more immigrants in leading roles…
– That’s how it is. The denial of the hegemonic culture and the media that have a logic of denial of reality and rather use stereotypes, right? I have a lot of faith, hope, expectation in what the independent theater can do. We cannot expect big capital, that theater understood as an industry, or cinema understood as entertainment, will always prevail. It is a struggle, a permanent discussion.
— Despite the ‘terruqueo’ or other qualifiers, right?
— You cannot cover the sun with a finger. We see how in a government like this, the Ministry of Culture is the last wheel of the car – with some exceptions – it is a place of political negotiation before an expression of a cultural policy that one wants to implement. That’s unfortunate.
— You are a self-managing group. What changes were there due to the pandemic?
— It is a privilege to have a room. We did a tour that allowed us to put together. We said: we go on vacation to the Caribbean or we buy a space (smiles). With the pandemic it has been very hard, but at the same time, it helped us to reorganize ourselves. Now there is a movement of independent theater groups, there are almost 100 throughout the country. Soon there will be a necessary pronouncement. Like Yuyachkani, we did the cultural terrace and passed on a hat. We have also incorporated the Day of the Dead into our calendar, we put up an altar, we invite the neighbors to bring photos to remember those who are absent. This return to a community vision of theater is a response to how the pandemic hit us.
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