As we graduated from high school, a group of friends and I decided to stage plays by Aquiles Nazoa to perform at family parties. Thus, "Don Juan Tenorio," "The Muñoz Marín Women Go Shopping," "Superior People, or Let Anyone Who Hasn't Experienced This Raise Their Hand," and "The Tooth Fairy" became hilarious and wonderful moments in our dances, which had little in common with those of our peers, who were more concerned with imitating John Travolta's outfits and dance moves in his Saturday Night Fever.
In the 90s, I returned to theater as musical director of the Teatro La Bacante group, directed by Diana Peñalver, and later, of Teatro del Laberinto, directed by Ignacio Márquez and Anabel Llorca. In the latter, I even dared to act (and won an award for it at one of the festivals we attended, but that's another story).
The truth is, I always approached those acting responsibilities playfully, with the ease of someone who doesn't expect critical judgment of their performance, since, after all, I wasn't an actor in the professional sense. This playful approach to the roles also allowed me to rediscover virtues that fade when one leaves childhood behind and enters adulthood. The virtue of becoming someone else and entering a different logic, one that arises from the rules of the game. Like in dreams.
Because it's about play, theater, with all its tools for technical mastery (in terms of body language and vocal technique), is one of the artistic disciplines that most captivates our children. And that's why I wholeheartedly applaud the incorporation of the César Rengifo Theater Movement into the Route of Hope program in the temporary camps.
