Come back “Dear San Antonio”

The Santa Fe version of the play “Dear San Antonio” premiered in November 2021 at the Teatro de la Abadía. Six months later, this Friday, May 6, he returns to the stage, in this case to La 3068 (San Martín 3068). Space in which it will remain on the poster every Friday of the current month, always at 9:00 p.m.

The comedy, which combines the funny with the irreverent, is directed by Alejo Degiorgis and the work, behind the scenes, of EM Producciones Artísticas. It is set in 1920, in the period between the world wars. San Antonio de Padua, the miraculous saint who finds lost objects and brings love to women who implore him, is summoned by Pina and Filumena, who are his devotees. One awaits the return of her husband from the war, the other yearns for the arrival of a love. However, the one in charge of “talking” with the saint is Carmela, the priest’s niece.

Photo: Courtesy production

“Dear San Antonio”, according to the filmmakers themselves, is a work where “questionable situations are glimpsed where the woman is in a place of waiting, sacrifice and submission, to go on to take center stage in her own life”. As the director pointed out in dialogue with this medium, although it is a story that takes place more than a century ago, it is very current due to the themes it addresses and the way they decided to stage the staging, to mark the similarities with what It still happens today in the universe of women and in the world of spirituality, since the action takes place in a church.

In an interview granted in 2015 to RZ Radio, the author Patricia Suárez pointed out that her work is an absolute comedy, from beginning to end. “Almost a farce, there are three female characters, the priest’s niece and two devotees of San Antonio and the man in question,” she explained. And she told, regarding the origin, that it emerged as a very small play in a theater cycle read in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of San Telmo.

“Dear San Antonio” is a work whose authorship is Patricia Suárez. In this case, the direction is in the hands of Degiorgis, who was also in charge of lighting design, while the idea and production bear the stamp of EM Producciones artisticas, by Elisabet Greco and María José de la Torre. The cast is made up of Ignacio Estigarribia, Elis Greco, Natalia Yobe and Agustín Schaumburg, who joined in 2022 to replace another of the actors. The costumes are by Ignacio Estigarribia, the scenery and graphics by EM Producciones and the makeup work by Lucía Savogin and Mariano Franco.

“During the month of November 2021 we performed to a full house at the Teatro de la Abadía. Now we go to La 3068 in this rotation of theaters that we always like to do”, said Degiorgis. In the half year that has elapsed, there have been changes in the cast, starting with the incorporation of the actor Agustín Schaumburg. “We were rehearsing a lot to achieve an even renewed staging, because the new space allows it. This is much more intimate than the 2021 version. The audience will be very close to the actors, almost inside the scene and that will also allow the search for other acting records. We are very happy about that and we believe that the public is going to have a great time”, remarked the director.

It should be noted that, in parallel, Alejo Degiorgis is directing “Las mujeres que (m)aman mucho”, a humorous piece by Eduardo Grilli that is on the bill at the Teatro de La Abadía, in the north of the city.