Decapitated polar bear brings to El Galeón a dystopia that mixes dream and terror

Would the human species be able to survive a planetary catastrophe and, if so, what would life be like? It is the horizon in which it runs Decapitated polar bear, which began its season this weekend at the El Galeón Abraham Oceransky theater, where it will remain until March 15.

Written by David Gaitán – who also stars – and directed by Martín Acosta, it is a science fiction play set in a dystopian future. A story at times delirious, which moves between the dreamlike and terror, not for that reason devoid of a high sense of humor, caustic criticism and philosophical reflections.

Lasting approximately 100 minutes, it tells the story of an imminent cataclysm caused by alterations in planetary orbits that threaten to suspend the relationship between the Sun and the Earth.

The cold prevails and the planet is facing a new ice age. Buying survival to go through “the eternal night” becomes the only important thing. Not everyone fits. In the end, it is a privilege of the rich and powerful.

The staging – made possible thanks to the Fiscal Stimulus of Article 190 of the Income Tax Law – is supported by two narrative approaches that develop in parallel to intersect in the final section.

On the one hand, a series of paintings or vignettes within a technological company dedicated to programming robots and providing the human hibernation service to survive the coming apocalypse.

On the other hand, the journey of a polar bear – told by a narrator – is nothing more than the fable of the hero’s journey, managing to overcome not only the inclemency of the environment and the wildness of the ecosystem, but also the fact of lacking a head. A major responsibility will fall on his being that will put him in the unenviable dilemma between doing the right thing or betraying himself in pursuit of what he needs.

This creation by Gaitán – who acts as the narrator – can be classified as a polysemic work, allowing for multiple readings, although with the common aspect of its critical nature.

According to what this newspaper consulted, there are those who take it as a criticism of capitalism and with it consumerism, the prevailing political systems, the profound contemporary individualism, the desire to play God and want to overcome nature, or the blind faith in scientific and technological development.

In scenic terms, the director’s proposal uses four actors who alternate their characters between robots and human beings, perhaps to confuse or mark the limits of the extent to which we manage to maintain our humanity or lose it?

The scenery is minimalist, it is composed of a pair of dark screens mounted on an extensive platform where the actions take place. No resources are used other than a series of chairs, which are assembled or dismantled depending on the scene, and a mechanical calculator, in addition to a real-time sound design, at times ominous and distressing.

Appealing to the audience’s imagination, and the references given at the time, the stage is transformed into a technology company, a personnel recruitment room, a training classroom, a doctor’s office, a hibernation center, a wild place covered in ice and snow, and a frozen lake.

“We seek to make a show about the terror of the future, which is also a spell for survival,” as explained in the program by Martín Acosta, who also clarifies that they chose science fiction because it allows them to review commonplaces without shame or shame.

“This genre where we can ask ourselves, without fear of boredom – ours, at least – if our time as humanity on the planet must have been brief and full of suffering due to the whim of some higher entity that no longer even plays dice, because there is no point in doing so when all outcomes are possible. Damn quantum physics: how many uncertainties does it have in store for us.”

The stage creator emphasizes that Gaitán wrote a text not about the end of the world, but about that of humans on Earth. “That is to say: he has the optimism to think that the planet will not perish due to global overheating or mismanagement related to nuclear weapons, but, rather, we end up entrusting the work to robots that learn to interpret the old joke of ‘last one out, let the heat down.’ switch’”.

With a cast made up of Verónica Bravo, Pablo Chemor, David Gaitán and Xóchitl Galindres, the functions of Decapitated polar bear They are on Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m., in the aforementioned venue located behind the National Auditorium.