The playwright, theater director and actor Alfredo Staffolaniis one of the most talented voices of the new breed of Argentine artists who develop their careers both in the country and abroad. Her name, along with that of colleagues such as Lola Arias, Mariano Pensotti or the choreographer Constanza Macras, has become common in German theaters.
Before making the decision to start working as an actor, he developed tasks in the communication areas of Unicef and the Ministry of Social Development. At the same time, he was studying journalism and when he only needed to complete some seminars and his thesis, he ended up discovering that he didn’t really want to work in a media but rather learn more about people’s lives and write about it. Today, after 25 years doing theater, despite the ups and downs of the profession, he is going through a very fruitful stage.
This year he staged his play “The sound of silence” at the Welt Bühne Festival (Stages of the World), at the Residenztheater in Munich and presented his books “La maldad del mundo” and “El buenos destierro” in Madrid. ”. As if that were not enough, he acted in “Potencia Gutiérrez”, by Maruja Bustamante, at the Cervantes theater; premiered “Motorhome”, with Thelma Fardin and Nicolás Riera and, in addition, the drama “The White Room”, under the direction of also actor and director Lautaro Perotti, in the prestigious Timbre 4 theater. In the little free time he had he occupied himself to direct the feature film “El tiempo del fin”, co-written with Agustín Abda, which was screened at the FIBA in Buenos Aires. This mockumentary narrates the traumatic experience of a pastry chef from the Chubut town of Gaiman, who meets the doctor who created a methodology that could erase human memories.
Next year he will tour with “Nothing compares to you”, a co-production between Peru, Chile and Argentina directed by Alejandro Clavier, whose debut will be at the Santiago a Mil International Festival. In May she will be part of the cast of the musical “Pretty Woman”, with Florencia Peña, and plans to premiere a version of “Juan Gabriel Borkman”, by Ibsen, on the independent circuit.
With extreme warmth, intellectual honesty and a friendliness that hides his shyness, he talks with NOTICIAS in a busy cafe on Corrientes Avenue.
News: Is it easier to launch in Germany than here?
Staffolani: It’s funny, but lately my work has more income there than in Buenos Aires. To premiere a play in the public theater here, I don’t really know what to do. Specifically, at the San Martín theater, at this moment, I don’t know what I have to do to submit a project. Go, tell who I am, what I do, why I do it to every director who passes by?
News: How did your theater reach Europe?
Staffolani: Five years ago, Rafel Spregelburd recommended me for a call for emerging voices. The new director of the theater knew him because he had been his playwright and I had my first experience as an author. Then I went to work for a while there where I wrote and directed a play in 2018. Since then, every year, I have been invited to participate in this festival called Escenarios del Mundo.
News: Do you work freely or conditioned by the taste of the German public?
Staffolani: With total freedom and in collaboration with them. There is a very good reception when I arrive, beyond the result of the work. They let me experiment and try the material. It is worth clarifying that at the moment there is a complex situation because there is total censorship of artists who are in favor of the Palestinian position. It is a contradiction; on the one hand, the openness to new voices and on the other the tension that if one is pro-Palestinian one cannot debut in Germany.
News: Can you live on theater income alone?
Staffolani: I live mainly from teaching. I teach at the EMAD (Metropolitan School of Dramatic Art), at Timbre 4 and at the Argentine Institute of Musicals directed by Ricky Pashkus and Fernando Dente. Work as an actor is completely unstable and my participation in audiovisuals is very small. One should have continuity in the works of commercial theater. That is difficult because today the works do not last more than one season. I was lucky, in recent times, to work at the San Martín and the Cervantes as an actor, but that is once in a while. The most self-managed theater does not give you the possibility of living and that is why you have to be doing twenty-five things at the same time.
News: Do you transfer the rights to your pieces abroad?
Staffolani: I have an agent in Germany and I have another in England who socialize my works and then I collect royalties. The difference with Lola (Arias), Mariano (Pensotti), Constanza (Macras) or Marina Otero, is that they are already brands in Europe. Theaters think a little about programming by virtue of being able to commission new works from them. For now, it is not my situation.
News: What is theater done for?
Staffolani: Very good question! (think). In my case, I come from a semi-structural moment in my life after the death of my parents and I needed to put my body back together and organize my daily situation. I believe that, furthermore, doing theater is a question of faith. Above all, at this time when cultural institutions are quite violated, one can quickly lose one’s identity. I ask myself a lot, why actresses, actors, directors that I value and admire are not producing? It makes me sick to see this because everyone has a very passionate relationship with theater, but it has become almost impossible to carry out a production.
News: Are the subsidies not enough?
Staffolani: In general, they are charged after more or less ninety days of requesting them and the money they give you ends up investing, for example, in buying six chairs for the scene, because there is not enough for anything else. PROTEATRO (an organization that depends on the Buenos Aires Ministry of Culture) asks you to do twelve performances of a play and that is difficult to sustain. These limitations end up determining what is written today. Thus, very austere and rather poor works appear, with little scenery and in many cases with elements provided by those who make up the cooperatives.
News: What would you propose to modify this system?
Staffolani: For example, go to the scenery warehouses of public theaters and manage your loan or even pay for rehearsal rooms since there are a lot of them idle. I think the system should be more self-sustaining. Maybe it would help to create a bank of sets and another of costumes. Above all, in a city like Buenos Aires where the unofficial theater is as much or more abundant than the official one.
News: This leads me to ask you, what is your opinion on the present in cultural matters?
Staffolani: There are always cultural policies, but today I see that there is a tendency towards the degradation of the subject. This idea of saying that we have to go grab the shovel and go to work. It is a reductionist view of people because all cultural workers, in each field, work many more hours than those who work in spaces where they pay us fees. I read that no more subsidies will be given to films that have less than a thousand viewers. That would lead to films that may be valuable not being able to be filmed. I wonder, how do you evaluate the success or failure of a project? These cuts and adjustments are occurring in all areas, not just in film and theater. What is happening with independent publishers, with the regulation of book prices, also affects activity because, how does an independent publisher compete with the rest?
News: What do you say when you arrive in another country and are asked about your profession?
Staffolani: When I say that I am a theater director, a smile appears on their faces because as an artist you occupy a place of privilege and need. It seems like you are closer to freedom. Here a taxi driver asked me and when I answered the same thing I felt that the look was different. It’s like putting yourself in a more marginal place. It is something curious because this society needs active people, with that knowledge, with that training, with that sensitivity that an artist has. But hey, the path to follow is very rough and full of obstacles.
News: Despite the difficulties, keep going.
Staffolani: Of course, if I thought that I did theater only to satisfy a personal desire, I would have to abandon it very soon. Every cultural experience is also an experience of the collective, that which seems so abstract, but contributes to building the identity of a people. What happens is that if one talks about popular culture, prejudices begin to emerge. Here, the singers and musicians who give recitals in the provinces are cursed and criticized, without taking into account that many people cannot afford the price of a ticket and that is their only opportunity to have contact with the figure they admire.
