...Pornodrama? Isn't this stretching theater to its limits?

Buenos Aires. Saturday night, Corrientes street.

A young woman waiting to see “Pornodrama II Un esquimal,” releases her boyfriend’s hand and enters a nearby bookstore to quickly scan a book called “Metro Sexual,” then returns with a coy smile and lands a kiss with a smack on the cheek of her companion. Alongside the couple a lone woman keeps looking at her watch and making harried gestures. Suddenly the line begins to advance: its show time!

 

The Belisario theater is small but inviting. There are several couches on stage, a screen for the video projection, not much more. Actors Carolina Refusta, Pedro Di Salvia, Juan Pablo Carrasco and Lizzy Pane are backstage, probably doing some relaxing drills.

 

Director Alejandro Casavalle claims in the program that  Pronodrama II “is a kind of theater that has appeared due to the desire of our group to reflect on what is pronographic, imposing itself as an obscure erotic stubject. But it is also a subject for discussion in today’s world because pornography is something that excites and demands to be heard and seen.”

 

There is a clear absence of emotion, except for an occasional outbreak or the shooting that adds violence to the expected menu of sex. The participants in the explicit sex sequences appear rather as robots, lacking feelings and not experiencing any pleasure whatsoever in the sexual acts they perform.

 

The use of the direct filming and projection on an enormous screen is a valid artistic recourse, as it is done in black and white, showing different angles and communicating a modified or transformed sensation from the actions taking place on the stage.

 

One might also argue that this is “theater” in view of the refined use of techniques such as pauses, changes in rhythm, elaboration and resolution of conflicts. But if you think theater is about transforming reality to dwell on the human condition, this is not your dish.

 

The story-line is of little interest: actors talking business on the phone while in the deep zones of sexual activity, hard-to-believe scenes of jealousy, situations typical enough of the world of porno movies, with just enough story to keep attention alive when there is no explicit erotic behavior.

 

Almost two hours later, all is over, the rubbers removed from the stage floor, and the actors appear for their coy bows before a very appreciative audience.

 

Oh. If you should want to find out more about this group, you might check out the information at Web:    http://www.pornodrama.blogspot.com

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