The stage is a piece of blue canvas lying on the floor. Pablo Alarcón is dressed as if he were the Archpriest of Hita. Next to him, the musician who accompanies him in this task with the cap: Augusto Gavilán. Just like last week, when produced a flower of viral commotion, the mature heartthrob is in front of the Iglesia del Pilarin Plaza Francia, ready for one of the four free performances of the day.
During an interview with this newspaper, Alarcón had said that the bet was not temporary and that he was looking for two things: “Make money and speak ill of the corrupt”. What is about to start this Sunday is a new presentation of The discourse of voluntary servitudewritten by the French philosopher Étienne de La Boétie in 1548.
The envy of the living statue, Pablo Alarcón. Because it is theater to the cap, a real crowd surrounds him on an almost perfect Sunday afternoon. It’s not cold and the sun caresses the actor’s groomed cheeks. There will be almost two hours of continuous shows.
Alarcón has been making news because, like many Argentines, he found an alternative way to avoid the economic crisis by making a show that has no specific value. Everyone can collaborate with whatever they want..
disturb, It’s messy to see a guy with 80 fictions on his back, an interpreter who went from Chekhov to Muscari, receiving loose bills. A lady who celebrates from a supposed front row puts two of 500. In exchange for each contribution, the public receives a photocopied notebook with the text of the French philosopher.
In theatrical terms it could be a short piece. In political terms, from an opposition harangue. At this time, we read on the networks that Pablo Alarcón should be declared an “illustrious citizen.” There are also people who contact this newspaper to say: “Pablo is a great actor, I want to deposit a little gift into his account.” Or an email from which they ask if “you will accept some blankets”.
A street vendor who charges 1,800 pesos for a fruit smoothie approaches the actor and gives him one: “Invites the House“. A lady in a cape and winged slippers, as if torn from Harry Potter, carries a handwritten sign: “More love, please.” Two thousand pesos says another woman: “The least I can do for an artist of its size.”
If this were Alarcón’s audience, it would have to be said that These are people who grew up with Magiclick and debuted on the internet with children who have already graduated.. People transitioning into adulthood with elegance and dental veneers. Electrifying runners who talk about a “decadent and sick society.” People who listen to Céline Dion and if they choose their favorite series should hesitate between Bonanza y Valley of passions.
The work is called The discourse of voluntary servitude and it could rub shoulders with one of those typical anti “caste” sermons that we hear these days.
It would be somewhat anachronistic to call him an “anarchist”, but The thesis of what Alarcón manipulates hums a libertarian reflection on the principle of authority. La Boétie spoke to people deprived of his freedom: “How can it be that so many men, so many towns, so many cities, so many nations sometimes support a tyrant alone, who only has the power they give him?”
Theater in the square on political arenas
In the manner of a minstrel, Alarcón reproduces fragments for an audience that understands the slogan: “They’re leaving!” shouts a person in black. “They’re already gone…”, returns another.
“It is a political intervention”, repeated the actor, lamenting that his vocation is increasingly difficult to exercise. And he said it estimating, through the roof, that “99 percent of the artistic colony does not have work”.
The crowd of curious onlookers, without intending to, became the most promoted theatrical event of the year: well-known old leading man acting in a cap in public space. Not even Carlos Rottemberg, with 40 years of theater businessman, would have thought of such a thing.
The former leading man arrived walking slowly, seriously. With the costumes on top. There was still half an hour left before the performance when a guy warmer than the king of swords asked for a “loud applause.”
There come two women at a brisk pace. They want to know where “Pablo Alarcón’s” thing is. A tarot reader points out the place with her chin. The atmosphere is immediately shaken because a subtle presence appears that seems to be watched by an elderly jester. Someone risks: “José Sacristán!”, in reference to the Spanish actor. False alarm.
With Alfa in the stalls
The one who does arrive and overshadows a little is Alfa, from Big Brother. The phones are distracted and attention in Alarcón is wasted. “You came to compete with me”, the actor smiles. “Naaa, hey, don’t say like that…” pleads the media person with his Leonardo Favio-style headscarf.
It seems that everyone knows who is performing today in Plaza Francia. There is some tribal reminiscence. All that remains is to share a collective fire. The script written in 1500 has the scope of a tribune of doctrine and Alarcón says that the text is glorious.
“It talks about the fatigue of a citizen subjected to a corrupt, insatiable, voracious and thief government.”. At 77 years old, this confessed voter of Patricia Bullrichand former soap opera star like Pink from afarlooks whole, upright, agile, focused.
“There are millions of us who are in the same situation… Giving as we can,” a woman gets angry. “A great actor who earned a lot of money without thinking about tomorrow. We are not eternally young,” says Marta, a resident of San Pedro. “What a great actor! I am ashamed and sad about the situation that is happening…”short Laura Aguiar.
Between function and function, some walk towards him, They step on the canvas of the stage and, without meaning to, they are already backstage. Greetings. Hands on the actor’s shoulder. Photos and interviews with two television channels.
Alarcón, who knows the job of smiling in public, sends his satisfied gaze towards the people and, before getting lost behind some trees, announces that there will be more coming soon: “Plaza de Mayo and Congreso“.