Talking to Carlos Gimenez, Creator of the Rajatabla in Caracas

Abstract

knowledge of the theatre of South America tends to be shamefully scanty in the English-speaking world: yet the forces of rapid political change, both revolutionary and repressive, often provoke innovative theatrical responses. NTQ intends to pursue the study of theatre in this huge continent. The following interview was conducted by Glenn Loney with the young director Carlos Gimenez – a refugee from Argentina presently working with his Rajatabla troupe in Caracas, Venezuela – whose production of Bolivar was brought to the Public Theatre in New York last summer, with a return visit planned to include The Death of Garcia Lorca, both discussed in the following conversation. Glenn Loney is a widely published American drama critic, teacher, and writer, presently teaching on the doctoral theatre programme of the City University of New York, and working on the American volume in the Documents of Theatre History series for publication by Cambridge University Press.