North America

North America / USA / New York

During this month of March, the super theatrical production “The Colonel has no one to write to him” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, continues in the Spanish Repertoire, the only company to present plays entirely in Spanish since 1968, subtitled in English, in New York City.

“The Colonel has no one to write to him” is under the direction of Colombian director Jorge Alí Triana and has a leading cast of wonderful Latin American theater, film and television actors such as: the first Colombian actor, Germán Jaramillo incarnating the Colonel and the first Cuban actress on the New York scene, Zulema Clares, playing the Colonel’s selfless wife. This play is an adaptation by Jorge Alí Triana and his daughter Verónica Triana to the novel published in 1961 by the Nobel Prize for Literature (1982) and world-renowned Colombian writer, Gabriel García Márquez.

The story of this theatrical piece focuses on the life of a retired colonel, who fought in the Colombian Civil War and since then has longed for his retirement pension, delayed for 15 years due to the country’s bureaucracy.

The thoughtful colonel lives with his unconditional wife in a situation of poverty and they only have a fighting rooster, the product of the inheritance of their deceased son, Agustín. The bird becomes, then, a possible salvation from his misery, since he questions whether or not to sell it to be able to eat, while every Friday he waits for the postman, who yells at him: “Nothing for the colonel.” Nobody writes to the colonel.”

According to statements made by director Jorge Alí Triana for the news outlet Efe, the play “The Colonel has no one to write to him”: “It is a play about dignity, about hope. Every transcendental work of art has a great metaphor and here is that of our peoples who have waited their whole lives with great hope that their situation will change”.

While for the actor Germán Jaramillo, the personification of the colonel has been quite a challenge. “Entering a character like the colonel is like entering the universe of Shakespeare… It is a very beautiful fable but it is also the story of power, old age, decrepitude and political struggle. And this character (the Colonel) in García Márquez’s perspective, which is also universal, achieves that greatness”. (Statements to an international media).

The play concentrates the action in the dialogues, maintains the atmosphere of the time and has a dramatic language.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Writter):

Gabriel García Márquez was born in Aracataca (Colombia) on March 6, 1927. He studied law at the National University of Colombia, but abandoned it to devote himself to journalism and literature.

In 1955, he published “The Leaf Storm”, his first novel. In 1961, he settled in Mexico City. That same year he published “The colonel has no one to write to him” and the following year “Big Mama’s funerals”. In 1967, he had “One Hundred Years of Solitude” published in Buenos Aires, the work that consecrated him worldwide. In 1972, he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize and in 1982, the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Other of his great works are: “The Autumn of the Patriarch” (1975), “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” (1981), “Love in the Time of Cholera” (1985) and “News of a Kidnapping” (1996) . His memoirs were published in 2002 under the title “Living to tell the story.” On Thursday, April 17, 2014, at the age of 87, he died in Mexico City, being one of the most recognized, admired and influential authors of Latin American literature and culture.

JORGE ALI TRIANA (DIRECTOR):

Jorge Alí Triana was born in Colombia and is considered one of the most distinguished film and theater directors in Latin America. He studied film and theater at the Higher Academy of Arts in Prague. He is the founder of the Popular Theater of Bogotá. His films have been presented at the most important film festivals in the world such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, London and Mar del Plata.

His theatrical credits include “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, “The Goat Party”, “Don Quixote”, “Blind Date”, among many others, for Repertoire Español. Triana has collaborated with Gabriel García Márquez in several film and theater projects, among them: “Time to die” and “Oedipus Alcalde”, the latter selected to be presented at the Cannes Festival in 1996.

Some of the recognitions that he has in his have are: 3 ACE Awards for Best Director; a Tucán Award for best film for “Time to die”, the Ombú de Oro and Ombú de Plata awards at the Mar del Plata Festival, both for his film “Bolívar Soy Yo!”, among others. Triana directs in Repertorio since 1992 and currently presides over her own production company “Dramax”, where she makes the TV series “Comando Elite” for the RCN – Colombia network.

GERMAN JARAMILLO (ACTOR):

Germán Jaramillo was born in Manizales, Colombia. His performances as an actor earned him awards as the best actor of the year in Colombia on several occasions. He starred in the film “La virgen de los sicarios” (2000), with which he obtained international nominations and awards.

He is also known for his performances in “Paraíso Travel” (2008) and the famous series “Narcos” (2015). Jaramillo is co-founder of ID Studio Theater in New York, of which he is the Artistic Director. He is also co-founder of the Teatro Libre de Bogotá (1973) and its Actors Training School (1988), where he worked as a resident actor, producer and director for almost 30 years with more than 40 productions. His credits in Repertoire Español include: “Blind Date”, “Bad Grass Never Dies”, “Aunt Julia and the Writer” and “Burundanga”.

ZULEMA CLARES (ACTRESS):

Born in Cuba and graduated from the National School of Art in Havana in the careers of Choral Direction and Theater Direction. She has worked in theater, film and television as an actress, playwright and director. She was the founder of the Argos Teatro de Cuba group in 1996 and soon after became one of the most acclaimed actresses on the Cuban scene for her performances in classics by Strindberg, Brecht and Calderón de La Barca, among others. She worked as an acting and directing teacher at the National School of Theater in Cuba.

His film credits include the leading roles in “The Nights of Constantinople”, “Three Times Two” (Silver Zenith, debut film, Montreal 2004) and “Long Distance”. He currently resides in New York and is part of the Spanish Repertory company of actors. His credits with the company include “La fiesta del chivo”, “La casa de Bernarda Alba”, “En el nombre de Salomé”, among many others.

Functions:

▪ Friday, March 02: 8:00 pm

▪ Saturday, March 03: 8:00 pm

▪ Sunday, March 04: 3:00pm

▪ Thursday, March 08: 7:00 pm

▪ Saturday, March 10: 3:00pm

▪ Friday, March 16: 11:00am and 8:00pm

▪ Thursday, March 22: 7:00pm

General Admission

▪ $30.00

Address: Spanish Repertoire. 138 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

“The colonel has no one to write to him.” An adaptation of the novel by Gabriel García Márquez as part of the 50th Anniversary of Spanish Repertory.

Do not miss it!!!

For more information visit: https://repertorio.nyc or follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/repertorionyc/