The Chilean theater festival, the main one in Latin America, has been running for three uninterrupted decades and this year presents more than 130 plays from 19 countries throughout the month of January and all over Chile.
From January 3 to 31, the Teatro a Mil Festival will be held with an unprecedented lineup to commemorate its 30-year history. The event will feature 130 shows from 19 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Oceania, including "Sun & Sea" from Lithuania - winner of the 2019 Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale - and "Saurian and the Witnesses of Outer Space" from France, a giant dinosaur that will burst into the streets.
The festival will present a multitude of national works with contingent themes, such as migratory movements, institutional violence, native peoples, powerful women in the performing arts and the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état.
Under the slogan #AtraviesaTuVida, Teatro a mil seeks to portray the importance that artistic activity has had during its 30-year trajectory. The festival has crossed borders (on-site and digital), disciplines, generations and distances, marking communities.
"These are 30 years of festival that make us proud and challenge us in equal parts. In these decades we have seen the recent history of our country, and we feel the retribution of the public every January, when they fill the halls, the streets and every corner they allow us to reach with our proposal. We began in 1994 at Estación Mapocho and today we reach all the regions of Chile, with artists from the regions themselves," says Carmen Romero Quero, general director of Fundación Teatro a Mil.
Shows such as Sun & Sea (Lithuania) and The Jungle Book reimagined (England) reflect on climate change and its influence on later generations, one of the points to be addressed in this edition of the festival. In addition, emblematic works such as Hechos Consumados (Juan Radrigán), Kiss & Cry (Belgium) and Ruta Pina Bausch, a choreographer with an extensive legacy in the world of dance, will be premiered.
"Sun & Sea"
Also, the Latin Grammy-winning Chilean artist, Mon Laferte, will perform the concert "Sola con mis Monstruos" (Alone with my Monsters) at the Quinta Vergara. Along with her presentation in the Valparaíso Region, the singer-songwriter will hold an exhibition on her life and work at the Gabriela Mistral Center. "These are projects to talk about other facets of Mon Laferte, her pictorial side, and how she also transfers that to her concert and gives it life", says Carmen Romero.
In its quest to extend the reach of the performing arts, the festival will stage free shows in different communities and cities of the country, collaborating with its extensions Antofa a Mil, Valpo a Mil and Conce a Mil. In this way, for the first time in the regions, and with free admission, Fundación Teatro a Mil co-produced works such as Tempest Project and Blackbird will be presented.