What is the difference between children’s and family theater? The work “Quilla the squirrel in the Peña Pimpilla” answers she is questioning

How do you explain the value of a tree to an adult? It is the premise that inspired the creation of “Quilla the squirrel in Peña Pimpilla”, a work directed by Fernando Castro. After almost a year of work, this theatrical production emerges as a window towards reflection on the degradation of the environment and the vital importance of nature as the habitat shared by all of us with a clear message: there is still time to change.

“We thought carefully about how to carry out the work, until we realized that we can reach adults through children, who can transmit the values ​​that are reflected in the work”explains Castro in an interview with El Comercio.

Despite his intention to highlight an increasingly pressing reality, the playwright does not aspire to educate the public in the traditional sense. “I feel that education implies a deeper responsibility, it is a process that involves multiple layers of intervention. This work can contribute to the learning process, but it is not the process itself”says Castro, who prefers to use the term “raise awareness,” which has a different connotation. “Through theater, we can foster a dialogue, not necessarily transform people’s attitudes, but put the issue on the table”Add.

Despite the various artistic manifestations available to address these issues, the director did not find a better medium than theater to raise them. “Theatre celebrates life in various ways, but it always defends life in all its forms. In short, this is celebrating life”he points out.

Theater for everyone

When family theater is mentioned, we usually think of shows aimed exclusively at children. However, for Castro, this label represents an experience that goes beyond a simple presentation designed for the youngest, but includes all ages. “This is an experience similar to what Pixar does, something that is for everyone, because the message found within moves at different levels and each person, of different ages, interprets things in different ways”explains Castro

An example of this diversity of messages is found in the music that accompanies the work. “We have incorporated Creole music to set the story, which was a challenge, since we also wanted the children to understand the message that is transmitted through this music”mentions the director, who wrote poems that later became the five songs present in the work. “To give relevance to the music, we were inspired by the song ‘Your glance in my voice’, performed by Susana Baca, which is based on a poem by Carlos Oquendo de Amat”he adds.

This need to reach all types of audiences arises from the concern to highlight environmental damage and transmit a message of hope, even after reaching the point of no return. In addition, it seeks to counteract the apathy of adults and the resignation of many adolescents in the face of the impact of environmental changes.

“Many young people feel resigned to the consequences of these actions on the future of the environment and say: ‘Nothing can be done now.but the theater always acts as if it were the musicians of the Titanic: as long as it is possible to tell stories through art and generate a response from the public, it will continue to do so, until the bitter or sweet end,” mentions the playwright, who accepted the challenge to convert information about a crude reality into a work understandable for children through the use of simple metaphors such as the tree where Quilla lives in allusion to all of nature.

Despite considering this work as a first step, Castro recognizes that there is still a long way to go in his mission to show the consequences of indifference towards the preservation of the environment. “This work will not save the environment, but it will plant the seeds so that new generations will care more about the planet”he concludes.