“’Metamorphosis’ was the ideal proposal to experiment with. I took some licenses”

When Francisco Cabrera (Lima, 1984) read “Metamorphosis” at school, he didn’t understand her. Some years later, as an acting student, she played Gregorio Samsa’s brother in a theater adaptation of the greatest novel by the Czech Franz Kafka, and history repeated itself. He also failed to understand her, but on this occasion, she considerably piqued her interest. It was, later, in a rereading of a translation made by her teacher, Roberto Ángeles, that he began to understand it and become passionate about it. “I found it interesting, especially contemporary. And it is the first work that I am going to direct professionally in an extended format”, he tells us.

Cabrera is placed in the director’s chair to deliver to us, starting this September 22 at the Julio Ramón Ribeyro theater of the Ricardo Palma Cultural Center, in Miraflores, an adaptation of one of the most influential works in literature and popular culture.

“It seemed to me that it was the ideal proposal to be able to experiment. I took some licenses and I am willing to assume the consequences of it. I played with acting styles to give strength to the fact of hypocrisy. Because it seems to me that the metamorphosis not only occurs in Gregor, but also in his family. I have tried to make his family’s contempt more explicit at certain moments. But I didn’t go to the extreme”, he clarifies.

“Metamorfosis” tells the story of Gregorio Samsa, who one day wakes up transformed into a monstrous insect. His terror at this transformation is mixed with the family drama that is unleashed as a consequence of this event.

“A question that no one can ever answer to us and that is clearly shown in the work is whether they love us because we are necessary for something or because we are ourselves. Because when the boy stops being useful he is separated and despised. That question has always been on my mind. There’s no way to find out how loved we really are”says the director.

To give life to this intriguing narrative, Cabrera brought together an important cast of actors, made up of: Sebastián Stimman, Diego Lombardi, Daniella Stornaiuolo, Édgard Arocena, and Vanessa Robbiano, in his long-awaited return to the Peruvian theater, after more than two decades of absence.

“I was lucky that the actors agreed. Sebastián has been a friend of mine since the first soap opera we did together. I have worked with Diego a lot of times. He directed me in his first work. I have been a big fan of Vanessa Robbiano’s career. I am happy to work with her. I know Daniela from the University of Lima and I have always used her in my projects, and I have trained Édgard in my workshop. By knowing them closely, by being my friends, I have better tools to guide them.”, emphasizes Cabrera.

Sebastián Stimman plays the character of Gregorio Samsa, a role with a deep symbolic load.

“Understanding that he lives in a false world, of unreal affections, is, in my way of seeing things, what generates pain and transformation. It becomes animalized. Sebastián has had a body teacher to look at the physical issue. You can see Gregor as a sick person, but also as someone sensitive and misunderstood. I think we can all identify with him in many ways.”, highlights Cabrera.

Reunion with its origins

After 22 years, Vanessa Robbiano will return to the stage in Peru, to play Gregorio Samsa’s mother. The last thing she did in our country was ‘Talk to Me’, a one-woman show about anorexia and bulimia, illnesses that the actress faced during an important stage of her life.

“I was writing, doing other things, when I told my husband that I wanted to do theater again. And two days later, on my Instagram, I find a message from Panchito inviting me to his work. I could not believe it. At first, because of my children, I said ‘no’. I couldn’t conceive the idea of ​​being away from my family for so long. But, after talking to them and getting their support, I embarked on this beautiful project, which excites me, because, in addition to being a classic of literature, it has a strong current message,” says the actress, remembered for her roles in the feature films “City of M” and “Don’t tell anyone.”

In Argentina, Robbiano works as a screenwriter. He just released a movie and is writing a documentary. He also has a personal project of writing a book.

“I wanted to act again and Panchito gave me all the facilities possible to do so. The first rehearsals were by zoom with the help of a double. We didn’t know if it was going to work or not, but we all jumped off the cliff. The actors also trusted me. With my arrival in Lima, on September 4, we had to change a lot of things because an actor always arrives with his own particular energy.”says Vanessa.

“Playing Mrs. Samsa moves me because she is a woman who cannot be a mother, nor a woman completely. She needs a lot from her partner. That perhaps is the tragedy of this woman that she cannot take care of her children because she cannot choose something other than through her man.”, he emphasizes. “I return more mature and self-confident.”, he emphasizes.