REDCAT to Present the US Premiere of Guillermo Calderon's MATELUNA, 10/26

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, presents the U.S. premiere of Mateluna, a potent work of political theater written and directed by mercurial Chilean artist Guillermo Calderón, Thursday, October 26 to Saturday, October 28, 2017.

Calderón, who is described as "an authentic genius of the theater" by The New Yorker, confronts urgent questions about the complex relationship between artists, truth and reality in this new work. In Mateluna, a perceived act of injustice raises questions about how artistic activity relates to political violence, and what guilt and justice might mean in a post-Pinochet era.

While creating his acclaimed production Escuela, Calderón consulted closely with Jorge Mateluna-a former guerrillero in the Chilean FPMR, who spent 14 years in jail for his activities. During the run of those performances, Mateluna was jailed again, and is serving 16 years for his alleged participation in a bank robbery that he says he had nothing to do with. The Supreme Court is being urged to determine if he is a political prisoner.

Calderón: "I always thought that Escuela was going to be the first part of a trilogy about fighting the dictatorship, but when the news of the detention of Mateluna came to us, I knew that it was an unavoidable subject. A collaborator of ours is imprisoned, and if I do not do this work I can not exist as an author of political theater. And it is a painful work. He is in jail right now, and he expects this work to have social and political repercussions. I have always done political works, but it is difficult for works to leave their four walls. This is the first time I do a work that is inserted in an actual campaign."

This presentation marks Calderón's fourth production at REDCAT. He presented Diciembre in 2010, Neva in 2011, Villa + Discurso in 2013. Mateluna was first presented at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, in Berlin, for the festival "The Aesthetics of Resistance - Peter Weiss 100" and premiered on September 28, 2016.

About writer/director Guillermo Calderón

The author and director Guillermo Calderón studied theatre and performing arts at the Universidad de Chile and at the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre in California, as well as film studies at the City University of New York. He now works both in Santiago de Chile and in New York. Many of his stagings deal with Pinochet's military dictatorship, such as Villa + Discurso (2011) or Escuela (2013). Calderón's productions have been shown in more than 25 countries and have received numerous awards. In 2013 he directed an English version of his play Neva at The Public Theater in New York. In 2012 he worked for the first time in Germany, where he wrote and staged works for the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, including the two commissioned works Beben (2012) and Kiss (2014), which dealt with the great earthquake in Chile in 2010 and with the conflict in Syria. In addition, Calderón wrote the script for the film Neruda, which was shown at the Director's Fortnight in Cannes in 2016. His film The Club, for which he was co-writer, won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2015.

In Spanish with English surtitles

100 minutes

Text / Director: Guillermo Calderón

Set esign and technical director: Loreto Martínez Labarca

Assistant Director: Ximena Sánchez and Ana Cosmelli

With: Camila González Brito, Andrea Giadach Cristensen, María Paz González Durney, Luis Cerda Esparza, Carlos Ugarte Díaz, Francisca Lewin Castellano

Costume Assistance: Carlos Fragoso

Commissioned by HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Production: Fundación Teatro a Mil (FITAM). Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Mario Matos Teatro Municipal, Lissabon. House on Fire with support of the Cultural Programme of the European Union.

Presented at REDCAT with support from Fundación Festival Internacional Teatro a Mil, FITAM.

ABOUT REDCAT | THE ROY AND EDNA DISNEY/CALARTS THEATER
REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, presents a dynamic and international mix of innovative visual, performing and media arts year round. Located inside the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles, REDCAT houses a theater, a gallery space and a lounge. Through performances, exhibitions, screenings, and literary events, REDCAT introduces diverse audiences, including students and artists, to the most influential developments in the arts from around the world, and gives artists in this region the creative support they need to achieve national and international stature. REDCAT continues the tradition of the California Institute of the Arts, its parent organization, by encouraging experimentation, discovery and lively civic discourse.

GENERAL INFORMATION
For current program and exhibition information call 213-237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org.
Location/Parking: REDCAT is located in downtown Los Angeles inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex with a separate entrance at the corner of West 2nd and Hope Streets. Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure. $9 event rate or $5 for vehicles entering after 8:00 pm on weekdays.
Street Address: 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles CA 90012

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