“Beloved brother”: a religious experience that investigates the complexity of existence

With faith as a central element, a work intends to analyze the existence of God from multiple angles. Without losing laughter along the way beloved brotherthe work directed by Aníbal Gulluni, proposes a sensitive approach to a story where spirituality is clearly present and at the same time creates the possibility of reflecting on certain religious articulations.

On the stage of Vera Vera Teatro (the play can be seen every Friday from 10:30 p.m. at Vera 108, in the heart of the Villa Crespo neighborhood), a group of faithful evangelists are led in their faith by the hand of the Central American pastor Eber Colmenares, who disembarks in Miramar to give life to a new religious temple. In a decidedly adverse context to offer his speech and to attract new faithful, nothing will be easy for the pastor and the newcomers, mainly because problems will soon appear and at the same time various situations will emerge that will put the faith of many to the test.

“This is one of those works that due to the work and grace of the pandemic was going to go underground, but we were finally able to premiere it in November of last year. He talks about faith, and the truth is that it took a lot of that to keep this project afloat, especially since states of alert are always reappearing, new pandemic waves or shocks with the appearance of a cold. But beyond that, having the chance to be on stage with a song like this is a great moment for us”, says Aníbal Gulluni about the steps he is taking beloved brother in 2022.

Beyond the seriousness that the theme of religion always brings with it, the truth is that talking about this work is doing it from a fun point of view. “I have to say that what this work represents is comedy”, affirms Gulluni before developing a concept. “In any case, I am one of those who think that the classifications reduce the experience, which in this case has to do with religion. The fact that it is a comedy does not mean that we are making fun of something on stage, but that we want to try to reflect the complexity of existence. I like to laugh, and it seems to me that laughter can also be something not frivolous but full of intricacies that allows us to reflect and dimension reality in an alternative way”.

The initial origin of beloved brother finds its genesis in the quality of the actors with whom the director worked, but also in the creative paths that emerge from those situations. “In general, the way I have to create with the groups in which I work is to rely a lot on the temperatures of the performances and on the registers”, says Gulluni. And he continues: “Actors have a place that is easier for them to go to. I always had a great religious concern despite having been formed in the opposite of what the work mentions, and I think that for that very reason what is on the other side generated fascination for me. I have always been struck by the things that can be done in the name of the other world, but also by the level of deceit, conviction, or the nobleness of religious impulses. Spirituality is also important because it is a mysterious force to which I pay some form of devotion.”

Evangelism and its practices are central to the work. With that in mind, Gulluni carried out extensive field work to reflect common situations of this religious group: “The work that was carried out has to do with the concern and fascination of the subject. It helped me a lot to meet a pastor named Cash Luna, who is from Guatemala. The guy is a great showman and actor, however, there are other evangelists who you see the trick too quickly and don’t get into the emotion. I began to do a lot of research, including reading the Bible, and the truth is that it is a world that, when rationality is left aside, ends up being fascinating because it has a lot of resonances. The pastor in our play is personified by a Venezuelan actor, including that factor greatly benefits his role and the essential characteristics of the proposal.”

beloved brother