February 1, 2023 | By Maya Malan-Gonzalez

My plane departed Los Angeles at noon on Monday January 16th and by 8 am on Tuesday the 17th I had landed in Santiago, Chile!

As a representative of Milagro Theatre in Portland, Oregon, I joined fellow ensemble member Alex Meda (representing Studio Luna), who had already been in Santiago a few days; and together, along with Teresa Eyring (Theatre Communications Group), Dayron Miles (American Repertory Theatre), and Miranda Gonzalez (Urban Theater Company) we would make up the 5 delegates chosen by Theatre Communications Group to attend the world famous Teatro a Mil festival.

In a nutshell, we saw a ton of theatre, met artists from literally all over the world, visited Pablo Neruda’s house at Isla Negra and ate some ah-mazing food.

But let’s crack this nutshell open, to give you all the tea on my time Chile.

Let’s start with the Theatre, as the purpose for our visit was to experience the Teatro A Mil Festival. Panels, showcases of works in progress and theatre from all over Latin America- and really the world, but we were focusing on shows from Latin America.

Just a couple hours after arriving in Santiago Alex and myself went straight to a panel: Activismos Locales Para un Cambio Global- this was a fantastic start to the week. This panel featured two feminist groups: Lastesis (an artist collective from Chile) and Kory Warmis (an indigenous group from Bolivia). Later, Alex would get to experience a showcase by Lastesis “Canciones Para Cocinar” and together we would see the production of “Deja Vu” by Kory Warmis. Both groups created incredible theatrical images and impacted us both.

What I appreciate most about theatre festivals is the diversity of work. Now no tea no shade, but it’s always important to remember that just because you are seeing shows at a theatre festival doesn’t necessarily mean that every piece of theatre is going to be to your personal liking or maybe even just impactful to you. So after seeing a few pieces that may have been impactful (like so much to unpack and process and couldn’t stop talking about it) but weren’t necessarily my jam, here are the shows that were impactful and also were also, in my humble opinion, awesome (in addition to the pieces mentioned above):

The showcase for “G.O.L.P.” was a collaboration between Teatro La Maria (from Chile) and TEP (from Portugal)- this show was absurd and hilarious, this was also when it really hit me that trigger warnings are not a thing everywhere, also where I learned prop guns can use shell casings- don’t judge me, I intentionally know very little about guns and as an actor I have never played a character that has held a gun.

Another great show was “Temis” presented by Teatro Bonobo, after seeing a handful of really serious pieces, this was the first piece we saw where laughter was flowing through the audience, it was much needed for me.

And finally, on my last night in town we saw “Verdar” by Nicolás Lange and directed by Paula Aros Gho- with only a few set pieces and props, they created some gorgeous stage moments, my favorite thing about this piece is how they dealt with grief and suicide, very serious topics, yet I remember laughing a lot.

Remember some of these names friends, because hopefully we will get to see more of them a little closer to home- dreams of collaborating are a foot!!!!

While we were in Chile for the purpose of the festival, it was also important that we took the time to just be curious cultural explorers. So our little group of delegates jumped in a van and headed to the coast, Isla Negra to be exact, to explore the house of Pablo Neruda and his wife Matilde Urrutia, La Chascona.

The man was a total hoarder, some might call him a collector, either way, the house was filled with little things: shells, bottles shaped like dogs, figure heads from ships, beatles, butterflies, theatre masks, colorful glass piano stands and so much more- one of my favorite little anecdotes from the tour was all of the colored glassware he collected as he believed that “water tasted better when drank from a colorful glass”- I couldn’t agree more.

Along with the gorgeous view of this house (I mean, imagine having a writer’s desk facing the ocean!), what also made this trip special timing is the fact that Milagro is currently in rehearsals for Ardiente Paciencia, which is set in this very house! So I took many a notes to send back home, absolutely fascinated with his little house. This trip was also a really great opportunity for our group of delegates (with some extra friends) to get to know each other a little better- some good bonding was going down.

Miranda and Alex filled with joy and good food at Peumayan

Now no trip is complete without some good food and especially food that is unique to the place you are visiting. So our group of delegates headed over to a restaurant called Peumayan, which specialized in ancestral foods: the best of Mapuche, Aimará and Rapa-Nui culture. This was honestly, one of the best restaurant experiences I have ever had in my life. We each jumped into the tasting menu, featuring 22 bites of excellence- some of us got the seafood menu, some the meaty version and some like me, went for the mixed menu featuring meat, seafood and vegetarian bites.

Y’all, I’m mentally drooling just thinking about this meal, one of my favorite bites was this so, so tender pork rib- if I ever go back to Chile, I’m absolutely returning.

Unfortunately friends, all good things must come to an end and after a week in Chile, it was time for me to return home. This trip was such an impactful experience. I surprised myself by making it through the long days, panels and multiple shows- was I tired? Oooooh yes! Did I try to get to bed by midnight every night and only succeed once- but then the one time I succeeded, I also kinda plugged in my heating pad to the outlet and…. Well, it definitely made all the power go out in my room… and also maybe the rooms around me as when it happened I heard someone talking in the other room and then leave and a bit later I heard someone flipping the switches in their room…. And then did I wait in my room with no light in embarrassment because if I went downstairs they'd know I was the stupid American who blew the power for everyone- Ooooooh yes, that happened. But despite getting only a few hours of sleep a night because I was so wired thinking about the theatre I just saw or excited to see my fellow delegates the next morning for breakfast, which I normally sleep through, but in this case I looked forward to catching up with folks and hearing about what they did the night before or what they were up to for the day ahead.

This trip was a fucking blast- I can’t wait for the next international festival! I wonder where I’ll go……

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