Premiere of "Inhalaciones" (2000) A digitalized video of the performance

"Inhalaciones" Esférica Ludens (July, 2000)

Among those video documents I rescued from my own oblivion (I mean those in VHS format inside my library), there was the first performance of "Inhalaciones" (Inhalations) in July 2000 at Foro Contigo América, in Mexico City.

It was a very experimental work with the group growing in all senses; all the characters (also the text, the scenography, etc.) were created during the process, as usual in that time, through Physical actions technique and González Caballero's Acting Method, both in a basic level (the group had been working on it for one year, from zero), except for Guadalupe Durón who was my colleague at González Caballero's Workshop since 1986. I was not very happy with the final text but it worked enough in that moment, today I'm working in a new version of that text, 10 years later, more in the mood of a 42-year old house-playwright than a practical theatre maker, if you know what I mean.

You can find more information in the first post I published about this Esférica Ludens' production: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2007/03/recalling-inhalaciones.html

"Inhalaciones" Esférica Ludens (July, 2000)

The video has been digitalized from a VHS format, so the quality is awful; the camera was at the second line of seats, and you will have to fight against the head and arms of a very energetic spectator and also with one annoying sound, a mobile ring, which was sounding all along the performance. From the camera point of view you will possibly miss a very important part of the space, a bath tub, it was behind the bed, on the right side of the stage. I know! This is not a very encouraging way to invite anyone to watch the video, but it is what it is, the only video-document that remains of this moment of my creative life and a moment of the creative life of at least 6 more people, and it was a duty. Even do you can find on it a very interesting visual production, hope you enjoy a little and find more interesting things to save.

The performance was cut in 8 videos, around 10 minutes each, and you can watch it on Youtube or vimeo.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8F60D802A6E543C6

Images from "La Maraña" performance In Mexico City

La maraña. A Esférica Ludens production. (June, 2008)

As I reported last May 2008 (1), Esférica Ludens came back to life with the production of La Maraña (text by Antonio González Caballero) during the national homage to A. González Caballero; a few weeks later they sent to me some photographs and videos from one of their performances.

Of course I'm not able to criticizes their work (they are friends, collagues, and, of course, I have not seen the performance...), but I can say that it is my hope that the new Esférica Ludens keeps working and making new productions.

La Maraña was directed by Francisco Camacho, have no idea about stage design (which seems very simple) and about music, I only can say that the musical piece you listen to is created especially for this production.

So, I edited one video and one slideshow to share...

Introductory video of La Maraña


Photo Slideshow of La Maraña

The same videos on Vimeo.com:

Introductory video of La Maraña

Photo slideshow of La Maraña




(1) Post of 5/12/08: La Maraña. Esférica Ludens is back.

"La Maraña". Esferica Ludens is back.

La maraña (Text by González Caballero), an Esférica Ludens' production

I started my Esferica Ludens project almost 10 years ago, but I stopped it when I decided to exile myself from my mother country. You can find in this Blog many posts about my work during my Esférica Ludens's years in Mexico City, between 1998 to 2003. (1)

The small group of collaborators I left in Mexico have kept contact with me all these years long and sometimes they have asked me for some kind of advice in their new scenic ideas but this time it has been different, they were preparing a new stage production for Antonio González Caballero's National Homage, a text written by González Caballero, "La Maraña". They wanted to use the name of our company, Esférica Ludens, and of course I said yes.

Esférica Ludens logo

Esferica Ludens is back to life this 2008, this time with Francisco Camacho (Paco) as a stage director; acting: Marisol Solorio, Javier de la Vega, Guadalupe Durón (from Esférica Ludens), Tomas Esperanza, Humberto Castro and Patricio Castillo (as invited players). El Foro La Gruta, a venue for experimental theatre in Mexico City, is the place and Saturday, May 17th is the day. (3)

So, yesterday I received the invitation to La Maraña's premier, and I'm very happy and proud of it. It impossible to be there but my heart and mind will be.

My best wishes to all of them, my old and good friends.

Esférica Ludens in December 2003

(1) Esférica Ludens's productions in this Blog: Letanía (1998), Tríptico teléfónico (1999), Inhalaciones (2000), Oscuridad (2002-2003).
(2) There are two other actors but I don't know his names, sorry.
(3) I've been said that the first perfomance will be this May 15th during the opening day of González Caballero's Homage at Foro el Foco.

“OSCURIDAD”: a Recall

"Oscuridad"(1)

With: Marisol Solorio y Francisco Camacho

Text and direction by Gustavo Thomas

Produced by Esférica Ludens, Compañía de Arte Representacional.

Premiere: Sunday, August 18th 2002, at the "Caravana de Ecatepec” Festival,Estado de Mexico, Mexico.

About the play

“Oscuridad” was Esférica Ludens’s fourth and best developed work, a result of the exploration of acting techniques that the company had been doing since 1998.

Esférica Ludens had staged four works: Letanía (1998), Tríptico Telefónico (1999), Inhalaciones (2000) and “Entremeses Cervantinos” (2001). Each play had been a direct evolution of one way of approaching drama and acting techniques, and every performance by Esférica Ludens was one step towards the growth of the company.

Work by work we progressed in our exploration and in the use of different acting techniques chosen by the director: González Caballero’s Acting Method, Stanislavski’s Physical Actions Method and Eugenio Barba’s Theatre Anthropology’s Physical Principles.

Our scripts were written initially based on known drama works and then altered during the creative process of every work. That is how “Oscuridad” evolved, along a line of learning; it was a work based on the performer’s work.

The theme arose from our readings of “Le Misanthrope” by Molière and “Les liasons dangereuses” by Laclos. Then the actors created series of physical actions (about 500), the playwright found, during that process, the words that would match his script (at the end a 5000 word text), and the director combined those actions and words into an 80 minute performance.

Marisol Solorio performing "Oscuridad" (last rehearsal)

The play happens in one space and one time, following Aristotle’s principles. There is no scenography other than one table, one chair, two candles working as “stage light”, and nothing else. The year is 1612, we’re awaiting Louis XIV’s death, at a basement of the Palais de Versailles. Our characters are borrowed from Molière’s and Laclos`s works but they are our contemporaries, they think like many of us.

It is an eclectic piece: it combines styles and ways of creating (both avant-garde and classical), without a defined space and time even though space and time exist within the story.

“Oscuridad” was Esférica Ludens’ fourth work in a six-stage plan. It should have been followed by “Invocación” (staging process remained unfinished) and “Misterio” (which remains just a script).

video "Oscuridad" (Esférica Ludens)

(1) "Darkness"

Gustavo Thomas: Recalling LETANÍA (October, 1998)

Letanía, synthetic spectacle by voice and movement in two parts for commemorate the 1968 Tlalteloco Massacre, it was part of the Esferica Ludens' project called "Arte Representacional", a mix between Multimedia, Theatre, Body Movement, Music and Video around a special subject, in this case, a postmodern point of view of the blody October the 2nd, 1968.

LETANIA, synthetic spectacle by voice and movement in two parts for commemorate the 1968 Tlalteloco Massacre.

Author and director: Gustavo Thomas

Acting: Guadalupe Durón, Antonio Ordaz, integrantes de Esférica Ludens(1).

Space: Ateneo Español de México

Opening: Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd, October 1998.

Season: October 1999.

Performances: Saturdays 20:00 hrs, Sundays 19:00 hrs.

Ticket price: $50.00 (Mexican peso)

Duration: 50 minutes.


Video (Slideshow):






Comment in Spanish(2) by Mexican playwright Felipe Galván:

“LETANIA, horizonte postsesentaiochero

Después de presentar la "Antología teatro del 68", esférica Ludens me reinvitó a ver su ultima producción, era febrero del 99 y ellos me habían invitado a su estreno el 2 de octubre del año próximo pasado. Obviamente, por obra y gracia de mi particpicaión en la marcha de los treinta años, me fue imposible asistir en aquella pcasión a presenciar la obra escrita y dirigida por Gustavo Thomas.
En el mes de febrero a la segunda invitación se sumó el interés por ver a este interesante y joven equipo de trabajo, lo segundo por la edad, que no por el nivel de trabajo, puesto que en anteriores propuestas de ellos había observado una profunda y trascendente madurez. Es claro que quien los conduce, el mismo Thomas, tiene una perfecta claridad del quehacer estético y del camino hacia su concresión.
Letanía es el nombre al que responde la propuesta que nos ocupa, en ella el nivel verbal se recarga en las reflexiones de un exsoldado (Guadalupe Durón) que participó en la masacre; el nivel corporal, una constante de alto grado de riqueza en el trabajo grupal, se recarga en la interpretación del sufriente (Antonio Ordaz) de la masacre misma. Alrededor de ellos como elementos cohesionantes de esos dos mundos que se muestran, la conciencia del soldado y el dolor del sufriente, los grafiteros. El espectáculo pareciera desarrollarse en dos partes, una centrada en el exsoldado y la otra en el doliente, pero la intertextualidad es lo suficientemente fuerte como para mostralo en unidad.
¿Qué es más fuerte? La conciencia de un peón que confiesa en el distanciamiento ideológico-moral-insensible o el dolor de lo que pese a estar bajo tierra se impregnó en el recuerdo y la historia de un país? Pregunta clave para desmenuzar la estructura dramatúrgica. Tal vez haya que responder que Letanía, estructuralmente, es una interpretación melódica en dos movimientos.
Lo interesante es qué pasa con el espectador por estas dos partes encabalgadas en el escenario. Sin lugar a dudas el trabajo conmueve, impacta y lleva a la conmiseración, el efecto acumulado por esto propicia la catársis; la propuesta produce un efecto aristotélicamente tipificado.
Es un teatro hecho en la posmodernidad con la sabiduría del clasismo; una visión distinta de jóvenes no implicados en el movimiento, un ejemplo que, como en lña novela de la revolución mexicana, nos dice que el arte responde a hechos con propuestas posteriores y a veces alejadas de los participantes humanos, geográficos y temporales.
En resumen, esta propuesta me confirma lo escrito en la introducción a la "Antología del 68", la temática es universalmente mexicana y da para más, y sobre todo confirma lo de que "toda antología es injusta". En el caso de la recién realizada por mi, confieso que creo que tiene una gran carencia, la inclusión de Letanía.

Felipe Galván (S.N.C.A.), abril de 1999.”

(1) In those times Esférica Ludens was called "Roma, Teatro ...".
(2) Sorry, I'm not a professional translator, and those kind of texts are quite difficult for me.

Recalling INHALACIONES

Esférica Ludens, Compañía de Arte Representacional presents:

‘Inhalaciones’

Author and director: Gustavo Thomas
Cast: Guadalupe Durón, Javier de la Vega, Cecilia de León, Francisco Camacho
Design of Scenography and Illumination: Gustavo Thomas, Edgar Ocampo
Video, Photography: Edgar Ocampo and Esférica Ludens
Atrezzo: Esférica Ludens
Executive production: Gustavo Thomas
Technician: Viridiana Martínez, Foro Contigo América
Production: Esférica Ludens, Compañía de Arte Representacional.

Foro Contigo América
Mexico City, Mexico.
July-September 2000

"Inhalaciones" (2000) Slideshow. An Esferica Ludens Theatre Production. from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.

Recalling “La Cura”

“La Cura”




Author and director: Gustavo Thomas
Actors: Guadalupe Durón, Natalia Guadarrama and José Antonio Ordaz (1)
Design of Scenography and Illumination: José Enrique Gorlero (2)
Choreography: Ariel Miramontes
Atrezzo: Javier Tovar
Executive production: Marisa Gómez
Technician: Azgard Ramírez
Production: Roma Teatro…

Foro Luces de Bohemia
Mexico City, Mexico.
June-July 1998

José Enrique Gorlero:

“Historias enajenadas en el pasado. Lenguaje en síntesis, apretado, meticuloso. Referencias de la ficción y de la realidad. Búsqueda personal por los meandros de historias compartidas. Gustavo Thomas construye en la profundidad de su laboratorio; allí los actores son el origen del viaje. Fracaso de la memoria (el tema, sin duda, compete a esta generación); derrota amorosa. El suceso que pudo haber sido, la caricia que debió existir. Inseguridad del presente. Crisis. Probablemente “la cura” sea metáfora, ausencia, vocación de cambio.
“La sexualidad como un pasatiempo de los derrotados, la intimidad como una consecuencia de la soledad más profunda. Compromiso y otra vez, ausencia. Criaturas de fin de siglo: un ciego, la que se vende, el fantasma o el ángel de la muerte.
“Quizá la reflexión de Thomas incluya una severa investigación de recursos teatrales, la misma síntesis textual que deviene en imagen, sonido, economía de espacios y gestos. Sí, es la otra generación que sobrevuela nuestro teatro, con la fuerza que seguramente alcanzará las transformaciones.” (3)


(1) After La Cura these three actors and two more enthusiasts joined me in a new project called Esferica Ludens, Compañía de Arte Representacional which lasted till 2005 and is one important part of my artistic life.
(2) José Enrique Gorlero: friend, poet, playwright, theater director and light designer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina who lived in Mexico since 1975 till his death some months before La Cura’s season.
(3) This review was made by a writer who used words in such a way I can’t offer a translation that does it justice.