Photo by Ximena Benvenutto
‘Un Intento Valiente de Representar 30 Obras en 1 Hora’ or A Valiant Attempt to Perform 30 Plays in 1 Hour is the Latin American version of the show also known as ‘The Infinite Wrench’ in the US and ‘The Dirty Thirty’ in the UK.
After its opening in February of 2018 in a small theatre in Lima, Peru, the show generated a movement that revolutionised theatre in the city, popularising the late night slot for theatre shows as well as generating immediate, absurd, politically charged performance that spoke to a new younger audience tired of the traditional forms and eager to challenge the notion of what live theatre can be.
“... I think this is really a valiant attempt to redefine theatre. It took me back to the question ‘What is the theatre?’ Can we give it a single absolute, monolithic definition? How, after thousands of years, could we deconstruct it and put it back together differently? Who are these rogues that dare to do it? Valiants, no doubt. ”
The show has had 5 runs in Lima and one local version in Arequipa, Peru. It has had another localised version in the frame of the international Live Arts OFF Festival in Loja, Ecuador. 3 training residencies for actors, a drama dissertation written around it, and 2 performances live streamed world-wide during lockdown. We are now working for a 2022 version in Spain.
In the show, you get a menu of thirty titles each corresponding to a number. When we say the cue word ‘TELON’ meaning ‘Curtain’ the audience shouts out the number of the play the want o see next. The number which is called first is the play we perform next.
Here are a few examples of two-minute plays we create with the Latin American ensemble of Un Intento Valiente. The plays can be everything, autobiographical monologues, intricate dances, political satire, or just plain experimental. All written, directed and performed by the cast in the style of Neo-Futurism: ‘We-Here-Now-For Real’
