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Repertorio Español A theatrical life
Three men with a dream prove there is demand in the New York theatrical world
for Spanish music, dance and plays that originate in the U.S. and abroad.
By María Fernanda Hubeaut
Two's company, three’s a crowd, as the saying goes. But in the case of
Repertorio Español, it took a “crowd” of three to create the New York City theater’s success. The prolific theatrical company has built a stellar reputation staging some of Latin America’s and Spain’s most famous classical plays as well as works from contemporary Hispanic American playwrights, and everything in between.
Repertorio Español began as the brainchild of two friends, René Buch and Gilberto Zaldivar, both hailing from Cuba. Their thespian adventure dedicated to Spanish-language theater and cultural exchange began in 1968, but their “crowd” didn’t come together until 1972, when Robert Federico, an Italian American, joined the troupe, eventually becoming its executive director. Together they formed one of the most successful partnerships in off-Broadway history.
FOOTPRINTS, ORIGINS AND REALITY
Repertorio Español has its roots deep in both New York City’s and American theater history. The company began in a borrowed basement and later established itself on Manhattan’s East 27th Street in the historic Gramercy Arts Theater. It is this historic building, with its small auditorium and mere 154 seats, that serves as the crux of Spanish-language theater in the U.S.
Today, the company presents a rotating repertory of 15 different plays, musicals and dance concerts in over 350 performances every year. Its productions are seen by over 50,000 people annually at home and on tour.
René Buch was inspired to create Repertorio Español from an experience he had in his native Cuba. In Havana, actor and director Louis Jouvet and his company offered the best of French theater to an audience that was not familiar with that repertory and language, yet was still receptive. There was a lesson there, although Buch did not yet realize it.
“At first we did theater in English, but then after performing our inaugural work in Spanish, La Dama Duende, by special request of the Cuban foundation [Sociedad Cultural] Las Artes, our whole outlook changed,” Buch says. The response proved there was an audience in the U.S. for works in Spanish.
“Since then we have presented the best of [Pedro] Calderón de la Barca, [Federico] García Lorca, [Miguel de] Unamuno, [Gabriel] García Márquez and [Mario] Vargas Llosa among others, as well as contemporary writers from Central America such as Carmen Rivera, Cándido Tirado and Nilo Cruz among others,” Buch says. “In 40 years we have performed 250 works, many of which are still relevant after 10 or 15 years.”
Upholding the theater’s tradition of staging of classical works does not deter its caretakers from working to modernize their approaches and diversifying the theater’s appeal. “This theater is not aging, but it is evolving,” says Robert Federico. “For example, we have been making the scenery simpler and more abstract. We have invited soap opera actors with theater experience to participate, such as Francisco Gatorno and ex-Miss Universe Dense Quiñones. [These are] changes that continue to increase the diversity, receptivity and integration of different audiences. This is something that the repertory has ... brought into being since its beginnings.”
Buch claims that the secret to staying current is “listening and working with the public.”
The company performs works in Spanish translated simultaneously into English, and has a stable of 30 actors, many of whom have been with the company since its beginning, such as Rene Sánchez, Miriam Cruz and Ofelia González.
“Theater comes from the magic that is found between the public, the actor and the text. In this relationship there is an energy that produces what is so marvelous about a work. And this is crucial,” Buch says. “This is why my mission as a director is to be the first audience member and to let the actor know when things aren’t going well.”
Not content merely to stage the works of established masters, the company also has an eye toward developing and discovering new talent. In the last 10 years, Repertorio Español has held the theater competition, Nuevas Voces.
“We have seen very good plays in [these] competitions, when authors understand the social problems that people are living with on a daily basis,” says Buch, citing works that deal with immigration as an example.
THE SHOW GOES ON
With 40 years of success behind it, Repertorio Español has big ideas for the future.
“We have been a very good and solid base for theater in Spanish and we have formed new generations that are currently completely bilingual,” Federico says.
“We need to expand and grow physically, with another theater. This way we will include more audience members and will be able to offer more plays, not just in Spanish but also in English, with electronic translation and subtitling systems,” he says. “We can take on the risk without losing high levels of quality and artistry.”
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