BAiT: Buenos Aires in Translation

BAiT—Buenos Aires in Translation—was born in 2004 as a concept, envisioned by my friend and colleague Felipe Gamba, for developing creative exchange among theatre artists working in two American theatre capitals: Buenos Aires and New York. Under the umbrella of his organization Salón Volcán, Felipe had already begun working to build cultural bridges across the Americas. I was therefore deeply honored when he asked me to help him develop BAiT. Being a porteña—a Buenos Aires native—in New York and having worked in theatre in both cities for the past fifteen years, I found the job of curating this initiative to be a perfect fit. The first step was to select the Argentine playwrights and their plays. Felipe had already begun the process by requesting pieces from some of the most exciting contemporary playwrights, so the word was out in Buenos Aires. We also received unsolicited submissions and discovered new voices. I probably read around forty scripts before finally selecting the four contained in this publication. We had originally planned to do only readings, so one of my selection criteria was to pay close attention to the language. Another important factor was to avoid an “ethnic” selection of plays (i.e., a folkloric display of Buenos Aires culture—if one could even do that). I was looking for interesting ideas onstage, for original voices, and for smart dramaturgy. When reading, I was not thinking about how typically porteño a play might be or not. I did not want to end up with a product that was ready to be sold in some tourist souvenir shop.

After the plays were selected, Felipe moved to Moscow, and I was already employed full time at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while pursuing my BA part time. BAiT was moved to the back burner for a little bit. However, things radically changed the night I met Vallejo Gantner, artistic director of Performance Space 122, who expressed great interest and enthusiasm and offered an artistic home for the project. That was the kick BAiT needed to exist, and so it did.

One thing led to another: Frank Hentschker, program director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (at CUNY’s Graduate Center), had been aware of the project for quite a while and became instrumental in BAiT’s development. He introduced me to Jean Graham-Jones, translator of the four plays and expert in Argentine theatre, who proved to be ideal for this task. I was wonderfully surprised at Jean’s knowledge of the Buenos Aires theatre scene and particularly of my four chosen authors. When I met Jean, I had already started the search for the New York–based directors who were going to direct the plays. When people ask me how I paired plays and directors, I explain that it was a process very similar to matchmaking. I read the plays and then went out into the world to see what young and upcoming New York directors were doing. I paid close attention to their styles and sensibilities, and while I watched their work, I imagined how they might approach one of the plays I had selected. After attending many performances and rehearsals, screening footage of past work, and engaging in conversations with many artists, I decided to ask Brooke O’Harra and the Theater of a Two-Headed Calf, Yana Ross, Jay Scheib, and Juan Souki to direct, respectively, Spregelburd, Arias, Veronese, and León.

What came after was hard work on all fronts: Jean translated and collaborated with authors, actors, and directors; the directors rehearsed with their ensembles; the authors initiated contact by email with their New York counterparts; Vallejo, Frank, and I met with people and institutions who helped make BAiT a reality. The Instituto Cervantes and the Argentinean Consulate both proved essential in bringing the authors to New York not once but twice: in May 2006 for the first encounter between authors, translator, directors, and their ensembles culminating in staged readings of excerpts of all four plays, and in November of the same year for the opening of the two-week festival. BAiT’s objective—to bridge the gap between theatre artists from both cities—was achieved. Around sixty theatre practitioners were involved in this project. Artists who did not know anything about each other—nor of the theatre they create—started a BAiT connection that will hopefully last many years. New York audiences got a taste of Buenos Aires contemporary theatre, which, with luck, whetted their appetite for more plays, not only from Buenos Aires, but also from other important Latin American cities. The four porteño authors returned home with the experience of working with their counterparts in New York, about which hardly anything is known in Argentina. All of us who were not onstage, but who were key to these plays’ onstage existence, joyfully witnessed the growth of BAiT during two years of hard work and enjoyment.

I am deeply thankful to every single person who made BAiT possible—so many that it would take another essay to name. A very special thanks to Friends of BAiT—passionate about helping develop new work, these individuals contributed to the existence of the project. I hope you take pleasure in reading, and perhaps performing, these plays as much as I enjoy BAiT’s continued existence in my life.