THEATER IN MEXICO
Luis Politti’s work in Mexican theater started and ended with one
none-too-pleasant experience during the May-July 1977 summer season with
the Veracruz University Theater Company in Jalapa. Having decided to
leave Mexico, Politti turned down jobs on Mexican television that would
have required his settling down in that country and instead accepted an
offer to work for a couple of months in Jalapa, the capital of the state
of Veracruz. Jalapa’s university was at that time investing a large sum
of money into promoting the arts, with a first class symphony orchestra,
a dance troupe and a theater group boasting the participation of several
actors from Mexico City. During those months, Politti rehearsed and
performed in the local staging of “Chicken Soup with Barley”
by Arnold Wesker, playing the part of Harry.
The rest of the cast included Argentine actress Mabel Martin as Sarah,
Hernán Ibarra as Monty, Alfredo Sevilla as Prince, Alonso Echanove as
Dave, Manuel Fierro as Hymie, Lourdes Virrarreal as Cissie, Angelina
Pelaez as Ada, Arturo Messeguer as Ronnie and Gloria Gillaumin as
Ressie. The company’s artistic director was Marco Antonio Montero,
Guillermo Cuevas did the music
and Jorge Castillo assisted. The Investigation and Experimentation
Workshop at the School of Fine Arts took care of the scenography and
wardrobe. When Politti received a telegram from Lautaro Murúa, letting
him know he had gotten the former a part in a movie in Spain, the actor
abandoned the stage without prior notice, forcing a cancellation of all
functions. An article in the Jalapa newspaper,
Diario de Xalapa,
on July 28, 1977, attributed Politti’s sudden departure to a problem
with Immigration. Worth noting is the fact that the actor was able to
travel to Spain thanks to the generous financial help of Argentine
singer, Mercedes Sosa, who, after meeting up with him in Jalapa while
doing a concert there, had commented to a group of exiled Argentine
artists in Madrid that they needed to get Politti out of Mexico because
he was just wasting away there.
Gabriel Lerman
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