“In the project Horatio by Heiner Müller, devised with a group of interns from the La Picota Central Penitentiary, there was a mental transposition of the real space where the piece would be presented -The El Camarín del Carmen Theatre in Bogotá- to the intern’s own imagination. In the confined space inside the prison, in which the piece was rehearsed, we encouraged the actors to create a mental picture of the architectural space, where they would perform their part. This exercise was applied to both physical movements and object manipulation – many of which were forbidden inside the prison. The efficiency of this visualization technique, this ability to move within a space that is in our minds, and to manipulate of the invisible, was demonstrated during the performances. Peter Brook taught us that there is no performative or emotional state in the actor, if he/she is not working with an image. Our theatrical experience has been a confirmation of this concept: there is no place, action, or experience of space, but an image".
When life takes over the theater. Síntesis Magazine. 3rd Edition, 2000.
“In a country with 30.000 deaths per year caused by violence, Mapa Teatro’s theatrical experience in La Picota prison, wanted to show a different side: the life pulsations and sensitivity of its people. But if the interns showed such sensitivity, it was also because Heiner Müller’s text shook them up deeply. Horatio is the story of a man that has killed twice. What is hugely kind in this experience is that the interns are allowed to be something other than killers. They suddenly become worthy of the gaze of another, and perhaps, worthy too of their own gaze.”
Serge Michel, Le Nouveau Quotidien, Geneva, Switzerland, April 1994.
