Actor Germán Jaramillo Comments on Recent Tour of Repertorio Production, “Cita a ciegas” to Colombia
Mario Diament’s highly acclaimed play Cita a ciegas is a play that has traveled the world over many times. Almost a year since its New York premiere at Repertorio Español, Repertorio fans have hailed the play as one of the best the company has produced. Directed by the world famous Jorge Alí Triana, the cast recently traveled under the auspices of generous The Mid Atlantic and STELAC Foundations to the prestigious International Theatre Festival in Manizales, Colombia, one of the most important and longest standing theatre festivals in Latin America.
Actor and film star Germán Jaramillo, who plays the role of the Blind Man in this one-of-a-kind play was particularly touched, however, as he returned to the cradle of his career.
“Without a doubt the tour was a great success for Repertorio. For me it was absolutely memorable not just as a return [to Colombia] but rather as a conquest. We performed in a full audience at the Los Fundadores Theater of Manizales, during the evening, something like one thousand people; on Monday afternoon, a difficult day, we had the theatre abour 90% full and the performance was great; the first time we had performed the play in such a big space, a theater for 1,300 spectators. But the 7PM performance was so unique: clean, refined, full of new details with an alert audience that also had a lot of fun. For me it was very significant because Manizales is my hometown, I grew up there and saw my first plays in that theater, acting in my first plays in my acting career in Colombia. But to return there after so many years and act with a cast of such extraordinary quality like this one presented by Repertorio, in front of my friends from college and school and their families, and the acclaim that we received at the end was an experience like no other.
In Bogotá, it was even more exciting because in the theatre we performed in, the Teatro Libre del Centro, one can say that I literally built it with my own hands. I know its every corner and the day we arrived in Bogotá with Repertorio, we went to see the space . When I stood on that stage and said those first lines of the Blind Man, I again felt the exquisite acoustics in that space, the intimacy of the 200 spectators it can hold, and I was very proud to perform again in that space after fifteen years, together with the actors Repertorio has cast for this spectacle, and directed by a Colombian. All of the performances in Bogotá were praised by critics as well as by the public as an extraordinary experience, a concert of acting, a delightful text and a play full of theatrical scenery, rigor, and recognition of Repertorio Español as a first class company on a global scale.
The Pablo Tobón Uribe Theatre of Medellín wants to host Cita a ciegas, as does the National Theatre of Bogota and the Sociedad Privada de Barranquilla, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. I think it is very much a possibility that there can be a second tour next Spring.”
The tour may be over, but Cita a ciegas is back at Repertorio for the 2014-2015 season. Check out Repertorio’s main website for ticket information and stay alert for updates on another tour of this exciting and intriguing play that has captured the hearts and minds of theatergoers the world over.
