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3 unusual facts about Argentine Open Theatre


Argentine Open Theatre

Playwright Osvaldo Dragún seized the opportunity to organize a new theatre movement, calling on fellow playwrights Roberto Cossa and Carlos Gorostiza, as well as renowned theatre actors Luis Brandoni, Jorge Rivera López and Pepe Soriano.

Controversy ensued, however, when a number of well-known directors' works were passed over, notably Pacho O'Donnell's; negative national sentiment on the heels of the disastrous Falklands War helped further dampen interest in the season, which closed in November.

The return of democracy, however, also helped deprive the festival of its status as the leading forum for artistic defiance of a repressive regime; indeed, one of the Open Theatre's leading figures, Carlos Gorostiza, had been appointed Secretary of Culture by newly elected President Raúl Alfonsín.


Roberto Cossa

Playwright Osvaldo Dragún seized the opportunity to organize an Teatro Abierto ("Open Theatre") movement, calling on Cossa and fellow playwrights Luis Brandoni, Jorge Rivera López and Pepe Soriano, as well as receiving support from prominent intellectuals such as Nobel laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and writer Ernesto Sábato.


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