Buenos Aires (AFP)
When the Argentinian "has a few pennies in his pocket, he goes to the restaurant, the cinema or the theater": lights Corrientes Avenue, the local Broadway, small neighborhood halls, the theater resists in Buenos Aires, despite the crisis.
Each evening, more than 200 rooms, most of them independent, offer a cultural offer that has nothing to envy in New York, London or Paris.
They are opening despite inflation, one of the highest in the world, recession and electricity tariffs that have climbed nearly 1,500% in four years.
"We have a certain resilience and when the middle class has a few pennies in its pocket, it goes to the restaurant, the cinema or the theater", explains one of the pillars of the sector, the producer Sebastian Blutrach, 50, president of the Argentine Association theater entrepreneurs (AADET).
"The theater does not brew millions, it's a very risky craft business, we invest the value of an apartment the night of the first and it can quickly be worth zero." With interest rates (banks) of 70 "It's crazy to do it, but with success, we finance between three and four failures," explains Mr. Blutrach, owner of the Picadero theater.
With 300 seats, this theater is a symbol in Argentina. The hall was burned down and destroyed under the military dictatorship (1976-1983).
The regime tried to stifle the "Teatro Abierto" (Open Theater), a cultural movement opposed to the dictatorship. On the return from democracy, the Picadero is reborn from the ashes near the avenue Corrientes, the "street that never sleeps", with its theaters, bookstores and cafes.
"In 2005, 2 million tickets were sold, the boom was in 2011 with 3 million, but in the last four years, the cumulative drop in sales is 50%," says the producer of the greatest theatrical success. these last ten years in Argentina, "Toc Toc", of the French Laurent Baffie.
One entry costs the equivalent of $ 15.
- "A lot of dedication" -
At the Picadero, the performance of the play "Siete años" (Seven Years), by the Spaniard José Cabeza, will begin.
In her dressing room, the actress Florence Raggi finishes makeup before going on stage.
"The theater resists, there are talents in writing, comedians ... There is a lot of love and dedication," says this former 47-year-old model, including 20 on the boards.
About thirty streets away, in the middle of the small single-storey houses of the Villa Crespo district, is the Patio de Actores (Courts of Actors), one of the halls of the so-called Off-Corrientes which groups together alternative rooms.
"It goes beyond money, it's a crazy passion that drives you to study, to test, there is a little help from the state, to survive, you rent the room for rehearsals," explains Clara Pizarro, the producer who runs this theater. She directed the show "Madame Sabo Cabaret", where a transvestite tells the story of love between two revolutionaries in a Berlin cabaret scenery of the 1920s.
"The more the crisis is strong, the more we have recourse to the theater, there is a lot of resistance, it's a surrealist experience," she says, putting on makeup.
Artists' salaries have gone down in recent years, and it takes three or four jobs to survive or land small roles on television.
Helena Tritek, one of the glories of the Argentinian theater who studied with American actor Lee Strasberg (1901-1982) at the Actor Studio in New York, sits in a chair in the courtyard and explains that "there is a need for to express oneself, to speak, to tell stories and legends "in this country.
"The new theater is resisting, it's almost a miracle," said the 78-year-old woman.
© 2019 AFP