NO ONE WRITES TO THE COLONEL

In a long list of works by the Colombian theater and film director Jorge Ali Triana, who is known far beyond Latin America, a special place is occupied by productions based on the works of his brilliant compatriot, Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is hardly surprising: Triana was a close friend of the writer and they worked together on theatrical adaptations of such Marquez’s works as “The Incredible and Sad Story of the Simple-minded Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother” and “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”.

“No One Writes to the Colonel” is another of director’s staging of the work by Marquez. The play tells the story of a colonel who for many years has been waiting for a well-deserved pension, and one might say it was based on true events: the prototype of the main hero was the writer's grandfather, a veteran of the Thousand Days' War (Guerra de los Mil Días) in Colombia. This story looks just as real, alive and poignant on stage: thoughtful mise-en-scènes and superb performance by German Jaramillo and Laura Garcia not only make the audience empathize with the heroes of the play, immersed in a stream of joyless circumstances, but also teach to remain hopeful and keep the dignity.