euskalkultura.eus

Donostia-San Sebastian.  The Basque theater company Kulunka will be performing at the National Theater of Panama from March 22-25 with its work “André and Dorine,” as part of the Fifth International Festival of Performing Arts there.  The work has been very successful in a number of countries and organizers of the festival have chosen it as the inaugural performance. 

“André & Dorine,” tells the emotional love story of an elderly couple and how the wife’s Alzheimer’s affects their relationship.  To try and help her remember, the husband writes a final letter in which he recounts their history from the day that they met to present.  The narrative alternates between tragedy and comedy and in the hour of the work the audience is moved from tears to laughter and vice versa.  The three actors, Garbiñe Insausti, Jose Dault and Edu Carcamo portray the 15 characters in the work, disguising themselves with different masks, and without saying a work, under the direction of Iñaki Ricarte.

There is better communication without words

“We don’t speak, and paradoxically that is what makes the work understood anywhere, as much in Cuba as in Nepal,” Garbiñe Insausti explains.  “When we open the show in Manizales, Colombia, it was surprising how well it was received, and from there we went to Nepal, and again were surprised how well it did.  In Nepal it’s not called Alzheimer’s, they don’t diagnose this illness there, but they know well what dementia is and understand the play very well. “

The Kulunka Theater was founded in 2008 and “André and Donrine” is its first montage.  The work premiered in 2010 at the Colombian festival in Manizales, and since it has traveled to the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, China…this year it promised to continue its route and, besides Panama, they are already confirmed in Turkey, Russia, Finland, Norway, the US and again in China. 

André Gorz’s last letter

The company has reached the top with its first work, but it should be noted that the project is the result of years of work.  The idea arose in 2007, following the news of the suicide of philosopher André Gorz and his wife.  She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and both had decided that one could not live without the other.  “Gorz wrote her a long letter, very emotional, and from there our history began,”  Insausti explained.  The letter was published under the title “Letter to D. A love story.”

Among the performances of the play, Insausti told EuskalKultura.com about those done last year in Argentina, at the Euskal Etxea of San Nicolas and Buenos Aires invited by the Eusko Kultur Etxea. "We felt at home. Especially in San Nicolas, a smaller town, where we were treated like family, shared their meals... The Basque Center had fewer means, because normally the festivals and theaters put up the scenery, but they were dedicated to us: if we needed something, someone would bring it from home ... and so on. “She recalls.

-More on the Kulunka Theater Company on its website

A trailer of the play: