"Tu Amaras"
Bonobo
Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York
February 14, 2020
-- By Tom Phillips
"Tu Amaras" – Thou Shalt Love -- begins with an excruciating dialogue, set in 16th Century Latin America, between two Spanish missionaries and a lone Indian who has fallen in love with a cow -- a species brought to America by the Spanish. These inquisitors don’t like to call their friend an Indian, because they’re afraid it will make him uncomfortable – but what really makes him uncomfortable is their discomfort with calling him anything. They want to banish him for his carnal relationship with the cow. But they still want him to be comfortable.
This Chilean theater troupe calls itself Bonobo, after a human-like species of ape, and their ongoing concern is with human perceptions of the "other." For the cast of "Tu Amaras," this comes to include animals, extraterrestrials, immigrants, homosexuals, criminals, and each other. The last category is the most difficult.
Fast forward to the present day: a group of doctors is due to make a presentation at an anti-racism conference. They are experts in dealing with an unusual population – an alien civilization that escaped to earth fleeing genocide on their home planet. They don’t like to refer to these “Amenites” as aliens, or even extra-terrestrials, because they fear it would make them uncomfortable. But in fact they think of them as animals – a lower species, aggressive and dangerous. Their solution is to deny their feelings, and it seems to work well enough until conflict breaks out among the doctors. One of them, Arturo, is the butt of the others’ jokes; they think he looks like a rabbit. But their opinion takes a darker turn when they find out he was dismissed from a hospital for killing a man. Grilled by his colleagues about this crime, Arturo explains that he fatally beat a cab driver who made fun of his brother, a homosexual. This seems to ease the tension -- Arturo can be seen as a zealous foe of prejudice. But no – it turns out that the cab driver was an Amenite, and Arturo was convicted of a hate crime.
Poor Arturo denies nothing – not even his prejudice against Amenites. His gentleness and frankness seem to disarm his colleagues, so much that when he asks one confidentially why everyone is laughing at him, the colleague admits they think he looks like a rabbit. Arturo flies into a rage, slaps his friend and spits in his face. Later, he confesses he killed the Amenite not to defend his homosexual brother, but because he said Arturo looked like a rabbit.
Only the Amenites – whom we never see – understand the dynamics of prejudice. The lone woman among the doctors tells of how she was taken hostage by Amenites, who promised to release her only if she admitted they were her enemies. She couldn't do it. So they cut her with a machete to get something real out of her.
The anti-racism presentation never happens. The group decides Arturo must go because of his unacceptable behavior. He refuses, they fight, and all wind up in a tangle on the floor. The conference organizers ask them if they’re ready, and they’re not. No problem, comes the reply. We’ll wait until you’re comfortable.
This tangle of course is the real story of racism -- the knots we tie ourselves in by denying our feelings, fooling no one in the offended group. “Tu Amaras” is fearless and funny, outrageous and authentic. Arturo's fate is like the Indians -- banishment from a culture that can't stand the truth.
-- Copyright 2020 by Tom Phillips
Bonobo
Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York
February 14, 2020
-- By Tom Phillips
"Tu Amaras" – Thou Shalt Love -- begins with an excruciating dialogue, set in 16th Century Latin America, between two Spanish missionaries and a lone Indian who has fallen in love with a cow -- a species brought to America by the Spanish. These inquisitors don’t like to call their friend an Indian, because they’re afraid it will make him uncomfortable – but what really makes him uncomfortable is their discomfort with calling him anything. They want to banish him for his carnal relationship with the cow. But they still want him to be comfortable.
This Chilean theater troupe calls itself Bonobo, after a human-like species of ape, and their ongoing concern is with human perceptions of the "other." For the cast of "Tu Amaras," this comes to include animals, extraterrestrials, immigrants, homosexuals, criminals, and each other. The last category is the most difficult.
Fast forward to the present day: a group of doctors is due to make a presentation at an anti-racism conference. They are experts in dealing with an unusual population – an alien civilization that escaped to earth fleeing genocide on their home planet. They don’t like to refer to these “Amenites” as aliens, or even extra-terrestrials, because they fear it would make them uncomfortable. But in fact they think of them as animals – a lower species, aggressive and dangerous. Their solution is to deny their feelings, and it seems to work well enough until conflict breaks out among the doctors. One of them, Arturo, is the butt of the others’ jokes; they think he looks like a rabbit. But their opinion takes a darker turn when they find out he was dismissed from a hospital for killing a man. Grilled by his colleagues about this crime, Arturo explains that he fatally beat a cab driver who made fun of his brother, a homosexual. This seems to ease the tension -- Arturo can be seen as a zealous foe of prejudice. But no – it turns out that the cab driver was an Amenite, and Arturo was convicted of a hate crime.
Poor Arturo denies nothing – not even his prejudice against Amenites. His gentleness and frankness seem to disarm his colleagues, so much that when he asks one confidentially why everyone is laughing at him, the colleague admits they think he looks like a rabbit. Arturo flies into a rage, slaps his friend and spits in his face. Later, he confesses he killed the Amenite not to defend his homosexual brother, but because he said Arturo looked like a rabbit.
Only the Amenites – whom we never see – understand the dynamics of prejudice. The lone woman among the doctors tells of how she was taken hostage by Amenites, who promised to release her only if she admitted they were her enemies. She couldn't do it. So they cut her with a machete to get something real out of her.
The anti-racism presentation never happens. The group decides Arturo must go because of his unacceptable behavior. He refuses, they fight, and all wind up in a tangle on the floor. The conference organizers ask them if they’re ready, and they’re not. No problem, comes the reply. We’ll wait until you’re comfortable.
This tangle of course is the real story of racism -- the knots we tie ourselves in by denying our feelings, fooling no one in the offended group. “Tu Amaras” is fearless and funny, outrageous and authentic. Arturo's fate is like the Indians -- banishment from a culture that can't stand the truth.
-- Copyright 2020 by Tom Phillips
No comments:
Post a Comment