Starting last September 4th, the Roma Europa Festival presents events until November 17th. On 2 and 3 November, it is performed at the Mattatoio di Testaccio Central Americaa multidisciplinary show created by the Mexican groupLagartijas Tiradas al Sol (lizards lying in the sun).
Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol is a group of artists involved in theatre, publishing, radio, video works and training projects. Since 2003 he has been developing projects that aim to connect work and life, erase borders and trace new ones. The group’s productions have nothing to do with entertainment, but want to be a space to think, articulate, dislocate and reveal what daily life confuses, overlooks or presents as taken for granted.
It’s the same with Central Americaa, born from the meeting with a Nicaraguan woman forced to leave her country due to the dictatorship that governs it. From this story the show presents a broader reflection on Central America.
“We realized that basically we Mexicans know very little about Central America,” he tells us Lazaro Gabino Rodriguezthe actor and director who founded the collective in 2003 together with Luisa Pardo Lagartijas tiradas al soldeveloping various projects dedicated to contemporary theatre. Lazaro holds a Master’s Degree in Theater from the Amsterdam University of the Arts (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten – AHK) and has worked with directors such as Nicolás Pereda, Raya Martin, Gust Van der Berghe, Yulene Olaizola and Cary J. Fukunaga. “Central America,” he adds, “is a world that is geographically close to us, but at the same time far away. Usually we Mexicans look to the North, to the United States, which weighs geographically and beyond. So we leave out the south, a crossing point for these migrants. Mexico is inevitable for these people and we realized that these people see our films and listen to our music. Mexico is very present in their lives, and the opposite does not happen.”
Lazaro Gabino Rodriguez explains that “we have a sort of debt towards these migrants, also because Mexico treats them badly due to the insecurity of the country and the exploitation exercised by the drug cartels”.
Central America arrives in Rome on the eve of the American presidential elections on November 5 and the issue of migrants (whom Trump wants to deport) has been among the most debated of the electoral campaign. “In our multi-disciplinary show,” says Lazaro, “we will be showing a lot of videos of Trump’s speeches and archival images. Then we will comment on them on stage and there will be moments of music. The idea that Trump could win another election is terrifying, even if we are not so happy with Kamala’s plans on immigration.”
Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol has presented its shows in almost all states of the Mexican Republic, in independent festivals, public theaters and universities and in the most prestigious festivals and theaters in the world such as the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, the Schaubuhne in Berlin, the FIBA in Buenos Aires, the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna, the Festival de automne in Paris, the Theater Spektakel in Zurich, the Bienal de Teatro in Sao Paulo, the DeSingel in Antwerp and many others.
“My advice to the public in Rome”, concludes Lazaro Gabino Rodriguez, is to watch our show with an open mind, aware that the themes we talk about affect all of us, without geographical barriers”.