A Shakespeare with an Argentine accent and a touch of clowning at La Villarroel

Barcelona"I love Shakespeare and I love Chaplin," says Argentine comic book artist and director Gabriel Chamé Buendia (Buenos Aires, 1961) to explain the essence of his work. His shows, in which he adapts the British playwright's works using the language of comics, stem from his admiration for these two great figures. clownChamé made his debut for Barcelona in 2016 with Othello (ends badly) And now he returns to the city with a proposal that shares the coordinates of that show. Measure for measure (It's your fault) It reimagines Shakespeare's comedy to focus on the Duke's sexually charged abuse of power over Isabella, a novice nun. The show premieres this Saturday at La Villarroel and is part of the festival. Autumn Flash

"Shakespeare wrote this play in his mature period and during a time of great religious repression by the government. It's a dark comedy, which has always been treated very seriously, but I can't do that; it eludes me," says Chamé, a great defender of humor: "He's a great defender of humor: an escape, a way of becoming aware. It allows us to see things in many ways, with relativity, and then the laughter echoes in the brain." With this approach, the director tackles one of Shakespeare's darkest stories: the Duke has imposed the death penalty on all those who have sex outside of marriage. When a novice nun, Isabella, begs for mercy for her brother, who has broken this law, he himself tries to sleep with her. "It's a situation of sexual abuse of power, a theme that haunts us. I was particularly interested in the female perspective and the decision Isabella makes, because she chooses to protect her body before saving her brother," Chamé explains.

Five actors for 17 characters

The Argentine director's approach to Measure by measure It bears no resemblance to the era in which it was written. The characters dress in contemporary style, and the stage design plays with objects and empty spaces. "The story is one hundred percent faithful to the original, but I've sought an abstraction in the space. More than the joke itself, for me, the most important thing is the physical, visual, and poetic gag, and above all, not to fill the audience's imagination. You can do a lot with very little," Chamé reflects. This principle also applies to the show's cast: Matías Bassi, Nicolás Gentile, Elvira Gómez, Agustín Soler, and Marilyn Petito are the five actors responsible for bringing 17 characters to life. "They are constantly on stage, multiplying their work, and their transformations are visible on stage. For me, the important thing about theater is working with actors," says the director. From the original work, however, he has retained Shakespeare's Viennese setting, and from there he has used it to his advantage, making the show's soundtrack primarily composed of Viennese waltzes. "Vienna was home to great composers, and waltzes lend a lot of elegance to clowns," he emphasizes.