«Ingenting, absolut ingenting!» - Västeras Teatersällskap, FÖRESTÄLLNINGEN

Nada, absolutamente nada.

Nothing, absolutely nothing. Nothing can stop an artist from loving Art. An actor won't cease being an actor, even when the stage is pulled from below his feet or the doors of the Theater are closed. A broken leg or an injured foot cannot deprive a man or a woman from their gift, their special talent. Nothing, absolutely nothing can silence the genuine laughter and applaud of a happy audience.

«I wanted to become an actress to change the world!», said Mademoiselle Des Crêpes. As if to tell us that being an actor is a meaningful, unselfish and generous way of life; as if to reveal to us that being an artist is mostly about to be, not so much about to have.

Art was born to echo Nature, and we are Nature, we don't have it. Also Love is a matter of being, not of having. Artists know it, actors know it, all human beings know it but need to be reminded of it... Politicians don't know it, or seem to have forgotten it. In Portugal, in Greece, in Sweden, and, as I can guess, in so many other countries people want to talk about «pengar, pengar, pengar!» (money, money, money!), while Culture endeavours to survive.

We know that Theater gathers people, unlike money, that divides interests and opinions and splits affections. In fact, if we think of it, there are countless words for "money" around the world, but the word "Theater" happens to be very similar in several languages.

Theater, as Music, Literature, Dance or Painting, can be universally understood and, like Brecht himself considered, the spectator is intelligent and a play on stage won't let him/her feel indifferent, detached or unconcerned.

Last saturday, at Västeras Teater, I wasn't indifferent to Föreställningen.

Molière's fake doctors and other unmistakable characters stepped on stage disguised as real people. Or could it have been the other way around? The director and actor Tomas Tjerneld, who also adapted and wrote the play, successfully led the audience through a remarkable and satirically smart performance about the illnesses of Culture and the pains and distresses of actors, who are, after all, sensitive human beings, like all of us.

Nothing, absolutely nothing was missing and it was a wonderful première!! Grattis!!

*******

Peter Brook said that an empty space is one of the basic conditions to begin a theatrical moment: a person crosses that space and another one watches, and that could become theater.

Nevertheless, no one crosses a space as meaninfully as an actor and the Stage is meant to be the space he steps on. The world needs actors and stages! People need artists to tell them stories, to make them think, to feed their soul and creativity.

*******

With tender, sparkling wide open eyes, Madame De Brie said that actors love the audience. Well, the audiences love what artists can make them feel. It's a mutual fondness! And it's impossible to replace it by football stadiums or shopping malls. It's about being, not about having!

Did I sound too utopist? Maybe, I won't deny it.

But I would ask instead:Should the world remind politicians that Art/Culture is not an exclusive characteristic of Utopia?