Documentary Theatre and Lola Arias

Documentary theatre is a form of theatre that uses pre-existing documents and factual material (such as newspapers, government reports, interviews, etc.) as a source of material for the script. It can be used to give different sides to a specific story or event, and its impartial tone is also used not to enforce any bias against one character or element. The use of official documents has a more powerful impact on the audience since they realize that the events spoken about or performed on stage did actually happen. Documentary theatre has existed as a genre for as long as theatre itself has existed. The first dramatic documentary impulse dates back to 492 BC when the ancient Greek playwright Phrynicus produced his play The Capture of Miletus about the Persian War. The genre can be traced back to the European medieval mystery plays, Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's historical tragedies, French revolutionary patriotic dramas, British and American 1930s Living Newspapers and German plays about the Holocaust.

 Lola Arias (born in 1976) is a playwright, songwriter, and director and her plays are based on documentary theatre. Most of her theatre work has some elements in common. One of them is the frenetic action moments and interesting use of space and setting. The restless action can be seen in “Mi vida después” were the use of rock music, pattern movements and intensive energy (more specifically, when they’re tearing clothes apart). In “Revolver”, the setting consists of only one bed, and the only lighting we can see is a strip of light that can only illuminate a small segment of what is happening. The two characters talk in a pre and post sex manner in a poetic way and they are in their underwear, creating a higher level of intimacy. In “Striptease” the setting consists of a crib on the center of the stage with a baby in it, while there are two characters on opposite sides of the stage. Her plays are usually not very clear in form, however they usually consist on moments and intense acting (like in “Striptease). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx-psE4RFVM&feature=player_embedded

We are now working on a play written by her called “The Suicides” which focuses on the lives and deaths of 5 teenagers from a village in Argentina called Rosario de la Frontera. Following the standards of documentary theatre and Lola Arias’ work, the play is driven narrated by the teenagers telling their story in the after life, reading newspaper articles about themselves. We’re are still in a primary stage of this project and I will be updating as the story develops.