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Vicente I. Sánchez | @Snchez1Godotx
A dramatic comedy about shared loneliness. This is how the director and author, Mireia Gabilondo, defines the work You know plastic flowers have never lived, right? An interesting statement for a work that explores the lives of characters pushed to the limit, who seek to be loved, but find themselves trapped in dead ends. Not so much because of her inability to love, but, as the author explains in the hand program, because of the masks that we all use to move forward.
The work tells the peculiar and almost surreal story of José Manuel (Telmo Irureta), a psychologist with cerebral palsy who finds company and affection in his interaction with Alexa, the artificial intelligence of his home. At the same time, she maintains a friendship with Martina (Karmele Aranburu), a therapist mired in a deep personal crisis after being reported by a patient who, in love with her, accuses her of malpractice. This woman also has a complex relationship with her daughter Lucía (Aitziber Garmendia), who suffers from a mental illness that causes dissociation: a second personality called Yoldi, who seems to take over her identity and dominate it.
Currently on display in the Sala de la Princesa of the María Guerrero Theater in Madrid, this work demands a receptive viewer, willing to delve into a comedy with psychoanalytic and moral overtones that oscillates between optimism and the intense drama of a soap opera. The result is a delicate balance, achieved through a complex proposal set in the Basque Country, which portrays the reality of three characters with different disabilities, living on the edge and striving to find their place in a society where human contact is not always possible. easy.
It is fair to highlight that the most interesting thing about this proposal, and without a doubt its greatest attraction, is the performance of Telmo Irureta. Despite his cerebral palsy, he manages to convey a wide range of emotions and connect with the viewer in a deep way. Yes in The Rite of Spring Irureta claimed the role of sexual assistance for people with disabilities, in this work his message is towards life itself, being the only truly positive and happy character in the story. “Man is the measure of all things”, he states at one point in the work, making it clear that the alternative realities that we build can be valid as long as we know that they are not true, but capable of making us happy.
You know plastic flowers have never lived, right? It is structured in small episodes that make up an interesting portrait of loneliness and the ravages of existential emptiness. With a minimalist set, composed only of some panels that anticipate the episodes, a sofa and the protagonist’s wheelchair (both remote controlled), the work invites us on a journey of personal improvement in which, inevitably, we must put aside our miseries.
‘You know plastic flowers have never lived, right?’ It is presented in the Princess Room of the María Guerrero Theater (National Dramatic Center) from October 18 to November 24, 2024.
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