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The work is the winner of the First Theater Contest “Nire Etxea – My House,” organized by the Euzko Etxea as part of its 70th Anniversary and Semana Nacional Vasca 2014 and stages, with humor and reflection, the various forms to identify a Basque person in Basque clubs today.  A(nt)ZE(z)LANA!, will be presented on Thursday November 6th at 7pm in the auditorium at the “Islas Malvinas” Cultural Center in La Plata as a read theater piece. 

La Plata, Argentina.  In hopes of promoting the creation of literary texts with Basque themes, the Euzko Etxea Basque Club in La Plata called the first edition of its theater contest, “Nire Etxea –Muy House,” at the end of July.  At the end of the deadline, the jury composed of Diana Amiama, Roxana Aramburu and Ana María Haramboure, all local theater references, chose A(nt)ZE(z)LANA!” by Marcela Inda and Sabrina Otegui as the winner.  The work was submitted under the pen name Bi Lumak.

The text whose title is a word game between the term “antzezlana” which means theater piece (play)  in Basque and “A ze lana!” an expression which can be translated as “oh, what work!” allows the authors to talk about the various motives for people to belong to a Basque club, and the conflicts and risk that come along with it.

As Inda explains, “the work talks about the day to day of a Basque club, its ‘personalities,” its worries, its difficulties.  I think that we played on our point of view of it all; we made fun of ourselves, and through humor were able to ask the question “What makes us Basque,” Marcela who is a student and current Basque teacher at Euskaltzaleak in Buenos Aires told us.

“In addition to what it has to do with Basque identity, A(nt)ZE(z)LANA’ also became a good excuse to talk about Basque and the situation of the language in the Basque clubs, a theme that is especially challenges us.  The different reasons why people join a club also comes to light in Basque classes and it is a variable that we cannot deny,” Otegui added who is also a teacher and a Argentinean correspondent for this bulletin.

“The most important part of the creative process, without a doubt, was that we had a lot of fun writing it, imagining the characters, their relationships and reactions…we hope that when they see it they will also enjoy  it and at some point will surely recognize themselves in it,” the authors concluded.  The work will be presented on Thursday November 6th at 7pm in the auditorium of the “Islas Malvinas,” Cultural Center.  The piece will be read with the participation of Estefanía Bonafine, Patricia Crescenz, Erica Ledo and Marcelo Perona, directed by Mario Lombard.