★★★1/2 Among human beings, is there a closer and more complex relationship than the one between a mother and her child? In “La pipe de la paz”, written by the Argentine playwright Alicia Muñoz (1940), the conflict shows one of the many edges that can arise between a mother who demands attention and a child willing to listen. The author, a deep connoisseur of the national idiosyncrasy, with deep roots in Spanish and Italian immigration, demonstrated in works such as “Justo en la mejor de mi vida”, or “Soñar en Boedo”, that she manages the threads of the characters with irony and a slight touch of sentimentality that always feels good when it comes to representing what happens in a Buenos Aires home. In this piece, originally premiered in 1999 with the remembered Mabel Manzotti and Carlos Potaluppi, she confirms it.
Felisa (Betiana Blum), is an older adult who lives alone, in the old house she shared with Vicente, her husband, who died six years ago. Her only company is the ashes that she keeps in a kind of pagan altar and with which she constantly talks. She is at odds with Marina and Griselda, her two female daughters, and maintains telephone contact with Dani (Sergio Surraco), the only male offspring who, perhaps out of sensitivity or guilt, attends to her demands and listens to her complaints. . The problem is that he lives in New York, where he works for the United Nations, as a mediator of a war conflict in Africa and formed his own family by marrying Carol. The conflict will break out when her mother, through a phone call, conveys concern to him and gets him to return to Buenos Aires immediately, believing that the lady has a serious illness and requires special attention. The dedication of that boy to rebuild the family bond with his sisters will put his patience and tolerance at stake because, as the protagonist says: “You don’t change the bed for an old dog.”
Although the development of the plot is somewhat predictable, we will not reveal here how the story continues. We will only limit that in order to embody such chemistry on stage, serious actors are needed. Blum, she is such an excellent actress that she should be declared a Cultural Patrimony of all Argentines. Surraco, one of the best of her generation, is not far behind her as the troubled man who only seeks the happiness of the complaining and demanding woman.
