Carmen Aguirre - A Pasionaria
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Tonight I went to a
show (a very good show) that was intentionally misnamed. It was a monologue called
Blue Box by Chilean-born, actress, writer, director and Studio 58 graduate,
Carmen Aguirre. It was falsely misnamed as Aguirre told us, in the first few
seconds, that no show in Vancouver
could prosper and or be advertized if it were called Blue Cunt. Directing the proceedings was Brian Quirt. The set and lighting was by minimalist Itai Erdal. My Latino friend Carmen Alatorre made sure that Aguirre's outfit was tight where it counted.
In my experience in
having taught nude photography classes in Vancouver for man years I know that
there is only one other word, besides the c-word with the power, if not to insult, but to shock and
that’s scrotum.
Blue Box is the true
story of a woman's (it kind of begins when Aguirre was around 20) experience as
a courier for a cell of Chileans in Argentina crossing with documents, etc over
the tough border, the Andes, either at checkpoints or by low flying airplanes. The
latter was a most dangerous endeavour. In those late 80s these cells were parts of an organization attempting to bring down the repressive regime of Augusto Pinochet.
Blue Box is the true
story of a woman in search of something that combines true love and good sex. In
her "Latino Vision Man" she finds that latter and is left hanging with a heart
that beats as if a hummingbird were inside it.Aguirre survives that tragedy to soldier on not with hope, but with faith.
I happen to know
Carmen Aguirre. Those of us who know her call her Carmencita to differentiate her
from her mother Carmen. Carmencita is a rare specimen in Vancouver. She shows, outwardly a passion
that you know, when you meet her, that is brimming from her inside.You might have to meet Carmen herself to explain the definitive difference between a hot babe and a mujer caliente.
To many an Anglo Saxon
Canadian (or someone from that culture) to show passion and not a stiff upper
lip is a travesty of what it is to be a Canadian. We are supposed to be centered and blasé.
I believe that the
above paragraph might offend in its blanket inclusion of so many. But as a
former Latin American who swore allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II and now a
proud bearer of a Canadian passport, I find Vancouver cold beyond the balmy
winter weather it is supposed to be known for.
Aguirre with her
almost perfect accent and diction in English is still from a culture where
passion iis not kept or hidden.
As I watched Aguirre
on stage, a most attractive Aguirre on stage, I thought of a woman, not as
attractive, but with a name that in many ways Aguirre mimics with her actions.
A famous rallying cry
for the ill fated Republicans in the Spanish Civil War was Dolores Ibárruri Gómez
called La Pasionaria (Passion Flower). She was the head of the Spanish
Communist Party for many years until she died in 1978.
Aguirre is probably not
as left-leaning as La Pasionaria in her beliefs, but when you hear her speak
about her inability to share a married life with a young man who is also her
comrade of arms you could almost bet that at any moment she would have uttered
this quote by La Passionaria:
It is better to be the widow of a hero than the
wife of a coward.
Blue Box has many
serious scary moments that are sugared by the fact that Aguirre not only has
passion in spades but she is also extremely funny.
She has a way of
looking at you straight in the face and saying things that would make almost
any Vancouverite man (I cannot speak for women) blush in shock. I remember once
when she brought a troupe of her Latin American actors to my studio for a photo
session. I do not remember how it all began. It did end with Aguirre pointing
at her actors and saying, “Size does matter.”
After the show, it
seems it was her birthday today, Arts Club Theatre Company Bill Millerd
presented her with a small cake with one lit candle. I did not dare (perhaps I
have been in Vancouver
too long) ask her if her box had cobwebs on it. According to Aguirre this is an
affliction that affects many women in our parts. I have no doubt that if
Aguirre were given a chance her Vision Man would come to the rescue.
Blue Box continues
until November 1.
