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Transvestites
Trade Streets for Footlights
Gustavo
González
SANTIAGO, - The ”First
Transgender Theatre Company” in
Chile has become a reality, providing
an opportunity for its members to make
a living in the arts of the stage
instead of the sex industry, often the
only means of subsistence in a society
that discriminates against sexual
minorities.
Cecilia, Anais Tiare, Juana Iris and
La Negra are the four transvestites
who play the female roles in ”De
remolienda”, to premiere in January
at the Carlos Cariola Theatre in
Santiago.
It will be the first season for this
unique troupe, which made its public
debut in June, performing before an
audience of 1,000 on International Day
for the Rights of Sexual Minorities,
in an event organised by the
municipality of Cerro Navia, in
northern Santiago.
Since then, the group has continued to
work with professor and theatre
director Luis Galán, preparing for
the ”sneak preview” this month at
the Carlos Cariola Theatre, a venue
provided free of charge by the Chilean
Theatre Artists Society.
Such is the outcome of an idea that
Evelyn Reyes, director of a health
clinic, proposed one day to Juana Iris
Rubio, president of TravesNavia, an
organisation of transvestites in Cerro
Navia.
TravesNavia is a not-for-profit group
that defends the rights of sexual
minorities and organises cultural
activities, as well as holding
workshops on HIV/AIDS prevention for
transvestites who engage in
prostitution.
The Movement for Homosexual
Integration and Liberation (MOVILH)
has joined forces with the group,
helping hire director Galán and
Mauricio Roa, Pablo Suárez and Adolfo
Sáez, professional actors who will
play the male roles in ”De
remolienda”.
The play is an adaptation of ”La
remolienda”, by Alejandro Sieveking,
which marked a turning point in
Chilean theatre when it was first
staged in 1964 by then-novice director
Víctor Jara, the singer-songwriter
assassinated by the dictatorship's
forces after the Sep. 11, 1973
military coup.
In a conversation with IPS, Galán
explained that his motivation for
taking part in this initiative at
first was money. ”I was hired to
give acting classes and to direct. But
at the end of that project there was
something more. A bond was established
with 'the girls' through their
devotion to acting and their
enthusiasm.”
”I fell in love with this job when I
invited them to Sala Arenas (a theatre
in Santiago) to see a play of mine.
For them, it was the first time in
their lives that they saw real
theatre. They were fascinated and they
projected that feeling,” he added.
The theatre professor is excited about
his experience with the ”First
Transgender Theatre Company”, even
though in working with the new actors
he had to start from scratch.
”I am pleased with the results in
terms of education, and even more so
with the artistic quality. There are
some rough spots, but that is normal,
because training an actor takes at
least four years, and then one never
stops learning.”
”After six months, we have been able
to get them going. They have natural
acting talent. Inhibition is not a
problem for 'the girls' precisely
because of the kind of life they have
had to lead. Usually the hardest thing
to do with a new actor is to overcome
inhibition,” said Galán.
In contrast with the fluidity achieved
on the artistic side, the troupe's
institutional side has been difficult,
says MOVILH president Rolando Jiménez,
blaming it on discrimination against
sexual minorities.
MOVILH, seen as the ”political
arm” of the movement of gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender
Chileans, initially contacted the
Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre,
linked to the Christian Democrat
Party, in search of a theatre to stage
the preview of the play.
”I spoke with the centre's executive
director, Ana María Ortiz, who
thought the idea was interesting. She
even gave me a date for when the
theatre wasn't already reserved and
said she would take our request to the
board,” Jiménez said.
”But a few days later they said the
theatre was booked. That was the
official explanation that Ms. Ortiz
gave us. The board obligated her to
lie to us,” said the activist.
”The Gabriela Mistral Centre defines
itself as a humanist and Christian
cultural corporation, but their
attitude was neither humanist or
Christian,” he commented.
”The creation of this theatre
company is an experience that attempts
to boost the quality of life of people
who traditionally have been rejected
and discriminated against by a large
portion of society. 'The girls' want
to turn this into a skill so that they
can leave the sex industry,”
explained Jiménez.
For the homosexual rights movement,
art is a powerful tool for
communication and social insertion, he
said. On Gay Pride Day last year, a
performance in Santiago's Plaza de
Armas of ”Fragmentos”, based on
poems written by gays and lesbians,
left an audience of 4,000 speechless.
Jiménez recalls the impact of that
event, and says it laid the groundwork
so that something like the
transvestite theatre company could
exist.
The true test comes in January, when
the troupe will begin the theatre
season as professionals. Galán is
confident that they will be successful
enough to extend the performances
beyond the four weeks scheduled so
far.
”We are hooked for the long haul. We
dared create the company and now we
have to continue on as long as
possible. At some point we will get
sick of 'De remolienda'. So then we
will just have to stage a different
play,” said the director.
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