Theater
VACA
A group of friends survive by delivering pizza on a motorcycle around Santiago, Chile. Their lives change when they must take care of a sick cow. They could sell her to a butcher or heal her to sell her milk. Little by little they become immersed in a conflict that can only end in violence.
Three friends survive the post-Covid inflation crisis by delivering pizza in their motorcycles around Santiago de Chile. One day one of them decides to help a friend by keeping and taking care of a milking cow in her backyard. The cow is probably stolen, so no questions are asked. But after a few weeks the friends realize nobody is going to ever pick up the cow. They immediately start discussing about what to do with the cow. They consider milking the cow and selling its raw milk. But eventually they receive a hefty offer from a local butcher.
They have to make a difficult choice because they are desperate for money but have also developed a true love for their cow. In their confusion they ask for help from several dubious characters that pull them deeper into an underworld of paranoia and violence.
A violent ending becomes almost inevitable, but the story is more than a thriller, because it is wrapped in a puzzling mystery, as the characters once and again repeat that they live inside what they call Cultural Television. The reality in which they live is called into question. The threat might not come from the people who want to kill the cow. The danger might be the actual experience of trying to survive as subjects to sophisticated propaganda. In this world of social decay and violence someone might be advocating for a new regime able to crush all cows and rule, again, from the military barracks.
Images:
Credits:
Cast
Luis Cerda, Camila Brito, Francisca Lewin
Integral Design
Manuela Mege
Composition
Ximena Sánchez
Artistic Production
María Paz González
Direction assistant
Ximena Sánchez
Playwright and director
Guillermo Calderón
Coproduction
Fundación Teatro a Mil, ArtsEmerson
Collaborators
Goethe-Institut, Noorderzon / Grand Theatre Groningen, Nationaltheater Weimar
Biographies:
Guillermo Calderón
Playwright, theater director, screenwriter and film director. Academic of the Faculty of Arts of the Catholic University of Chile.
As a director and playwright he has created a line of creations that challenges the audience based on its political content and the physical and emotional dedication of the actors. His works have been presented in countless countries with the best reviews, including Neva, Clase, Diciembre, Villa, Kuss, B, Beben, Escuela, Mateluna, Goldrausch, Colina, Bavaria. His film scripts include El Club, Ema, Neruda, Araña, and El Conde (Best Screenplay, Venice Film Biennale, 2023.)
Guillermo Calderón Awards:
2023 Premio Osella en Festival de Cine de Venecia
Best Screenplay for El Conde
2016 Premio Platino
Best Screenplay for Neruda
2008 Premio Altazor
Categoría Dramaturgia por Escuela
2007 Premio Altazor de las Artes Nacionales
Categoría Artes Escénicas Dramaturgia por Neva
2006 Premio del Círculo de Críticos de Arte
Mejor Obra por Neva
Previous dates:
August 2024
Estreno KunstFest Weimar, Alemania. Premier Kunsfest Weimar, Germany.
August - September 2024
Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival Groningen, Holanda