by The theater has the potential to mirror the world; sometimes, also, more specifically, to do it with contemporary realities. This happens with the proposal that has just been released in Paseo La Plaza (Av. Corrientes 1660), and runs from Friday to Sunday. This is Me gusta, a work by Alberto Rojas Apel, in which Javier Daulte directs Damián de Santo, Julieta Zylberberg and Lu Grasso. There, the first two make up a consolidated couple, who are raising their little daughter. The nanny who enters the house destabilizes the traditional marriage format, and that is where the conflict that the play goes through from humor originates. The deconstruction of monogamous love is the central theme; With him, this production by Pablo Kompel is expected to reach a large audience. For Zylberberg: “I think the work spans many generations, in different places. Surely seeing it will be very different for someone of 20, for someone of 40, or for someone of 60, but finally the paradigm shifts are always spreading in the different age ranges”.
—How would you synthesize the main proposals of Me gusta?
—Julieta Zylberberg: The play tells the story of the couple, Martina and Andrés, who have a daughter, love each other, get along well, but begin to notice that something is missing and that is not a lack of love. The possibility of changing the structure that they will come carrying arises. This happens at this moment in life, of a paradigmatic change regarding the family and the couple as institutions. We are from a generation that was somewhat halfway: with the ability to rethink and listen, but with difficulty accessing new options.
—Damián de Santo: This marriage is immersed in routine. What happens with the nanny is the trigger for the possibility of changing our history, that of our parents, in the ways of loving and being loved. The nanny proposes a different way of loving than the one one has been seeing. Centennials don’t have a conventional partner like we were raised to. In this relationship, the bug bites: “What happens if we try what the babysitter offers us?” The ups and downs when trying to convince themselves lead to conflicts. Faced with the idea of a couple, the possibility of a threesome: my God, where do you start? It appears what they will say. This centennial girl has less adult commitment, but the two of them have a daughter, family and friends. The big question is what do we say we are, without falling into partying. For me, being in my 50s, it’s rare to think of someone who is included in the couple. But the world is changing and one does not have to deny love: this is a new way of loving.
—How much is released from social networks, where personal tastes and ties are displayed, for these transformations of love?
Z: No, not much. The social network is as if it were a symbol of something generational. In that sense, it does affect, but as a symbol of the factor that enters this couple, which is the character of Jowy, played by Lu Grasso, who is their daughter’s nanny.
—DS: Social networks collaborate, they are armed to spread this, but it is in the unconscious of everyone: you allow or do not allow it to happen to you, to happen to you. In fantasy it happens. We’ve been together for a long time; pass this; we deny it or prove it; we have grounds to say yes or no.
—Javier Daulte proposes a direction based on realism; is the work realistic?
—Z: I am fascinated with Javier, I had never worked with him before. He has a lot of humor and a lot of sharpness, and yes, he goes from the truth, as a first law. There are many permits for humor, because the work has it, but yes, from the truth, from realism, from an absolutely human and very tangible approach for everyone. It is a comedy, but it is not without an absolute truth for the actors and for the viewer.
—DS: At no time does the work stray from the truth, from realism. It is real, concise, it has these three legs; each one has its foundations and that makes it possible for the work to continue. In this comedy, there is love, it is inescapable. You can’t just run to one side and let it pass. The director makes you fall in love with that couple of three. Javier is very affectionate to work with, and that is very good. He is demanding, but from an affable place; he is not a director who works under pressure.
—What other projects do you have in the immediate future?
—Z: I’m waiting for the release of three films I made last year. Puan, by María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat, a university comedy at the UBA. Un pájaro azul, by Ariel Rotter, which we filmed with Alfonso Tort, which is the story of a couple who have been looking for a child for a long time. and El salto, directed by Dani Goggi, with Rodrigo de la Serna; It is a social political thriller. I am also putting together a project with Mariana Chaud, my friend who directed me in La febre.
—DS: I have a movie for September, but now I’m focused on this work. And I also have a cabin complex in Córdoba. I like to mix the works here and there. At Villa Giardino, there is Vanina Bilous, my wife, who knows everything that needs to be done. For this reason, I can take the liberty of making a strip, like last year with El primero de nosotros, or in 2018, directing La peña del morfi. I am organizing with being in Córdoba, a space where I like and I chose to be. When I am an actor I travel here, and it is very comforting. There I dedicate myself to maintenance; I put my hand in, I’m a bit of a bricklayer, a bit of an electrical technician, I dedicate myself to fixing water leaks, painting, and repairing everything that breaks.
—What do you find attractive about your acting profession?
—DS: This profession allows me to be who I am not. I can put myself in the shoes of others and defend the character to death. Acting gives me freedom.
—Z: I love being able to interpret other lives that are far from mine. I like the people who work on what I do and the stories that come to me to tell. I have a very playful bond with my work. And I feel that doing culture is very important for a country: it speaks of a country, of a country’s identity.
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