Last week our 2 month long Mexican adventure was coming to an end. The last stop was Mexico City. A friend of ours took us out that Friday night and introduced us to one of the most amazing cultural concepts we have recently witnessed – “Teatro en Corto”, better known as “Microteatro”, which in English can be translated as “Micro Theatre”or “Miniature Theatre”.
The first one, Microteatro Por Dinero, (Microtheatre For Money, check more on their website) was born in Madrid, Spain in November 2009 as a response to the austerity measures introduced by the government that basically cut the subsidies for art and culture in half. Creative Spaniards decided not to give up and found a new way to entertain spectators. A gathering of 50 actors, directors and authors led by Miguel Alcantud, found a building with 13 small rooms where 13 small independent groups of artists were tasked to perform a play no longer than 10 minutes and watched by an audience no bigger than 10 people per room. The building was a brothel and the chosen theme, not to anyone’s surprise, prostitution. All 13 plays were repeated a number of times in the space of 3 hours and gave the public diverse visions of the chosen topic.
Microteatro Por Dinero, Madrid
Microteatro Por Dinero, Madrid, the queues on Saturdays are huge!
The idea started to take on and go viral, mostly due to social media and press coverage here and there. With time, more miniature theatres were created, mostly in privately owned flats with more and more artists being interested in performing in such intimate environment. They saw it as a challenge as acting in a tiny space of less than 15 square meters meant being emotionally naked in front of the public. And they repeated it even 20 times a night!
Microteatro Por Dinero in Madrid, where it all started in 2009
Microteatro Por Dinero, which play will you see?
Microteatro Por Dinero, Madrid
Our night at “Teatro en Corto” in Mexico City was an experience like no other. A true rollercoaster of emotions. We laughed, cried, felt scared, sad and intrigued. Behind each door to the tiny room was a surprise of some sort. Each play touched on a specific subject and it could be anything from sex in 22nd century to religion, mental diseases, parental love or break ups. This is the only thing that differentiates Teatro en Corto from Microteatro – variety of topics as opposed to a single, master one offered by the latter. Apart from that, the concept is the same – short plays of 15-20 minutes for an audience of 15 people in a space of approximately 15 square meters. The theatre building can be a private house or flat with each room decorated for the need of each performance. The intimacy of the place and proximity of the actors make the audience feel the emotions with an extra strength. You become part of the show, sometimes literally.
Teatro en Corto, Mexico City, with the actors after the play “Reflejos de Cristal”
The building of Teatro en Corto in Mexico City
Tiny rooms where plays are played, Teatro en Corto, Mexico City
Mexico City’s Teatro en Corto was launched more recently, about 6 months ago, by a team of 3 artists with Lolita Cortes as a front lady. She is passionately promoting the concept throughout the country. The premises were found in the centre of the capital, in the area of Napoles. With its’ 8 rooms spread out in this 2 story building, it feels sometimes like walking a labyrinth! The truly amazing thing is the possibility to talk to the actors, directors and other spectators during the intervals. Wonderful opportunity for discussions and meeting interesting people. Gourmet food for the soul. And to top it up, the prices of the tickets are also minimized! Each play will cost you 70 pesos (less than 5 US dollars!).
For now, the concept of Micro Theatre exists only in a few countries, mostly Spanish speaking ones. We hope that it expands even further. We will be its’ first supporters in Greece for sure!
Teatro en Corto, Mexico City
Teatro en Corto, Mexico City, during the interval