“Moby Dick” comes to the theater, but not as you imagine

Every adaptation is an act of sacrifice. When a book is transformed into film or theater, for the story to work in a medium other than the original, you have to leave content out, take out the knife and cut until what is left on the altar is different. And when it comes to adaptations, few initiatives are as famous and intimidating as approaching the novel.”Moby Dick” by Herman Melville, which since 1851 has captivated readers around the world. He has also defeated them with his hundreds of pages, narrated with sometimes esoteric prose; finishing it can be like chasing a white whale in the ocean. That said, how possible is it to bring this story to the theater? Furthermore, is it reasonable to turn it into a work for children?

The La Plaza theater takes on the challenge and premieres this week the adaptation of the novel that in 60 minutes follows the story of Ismael (Roxana Rodríguez), who one day decides to improve his spirits and join the crew of a whaling ship. Along the way he meets the Polynesian harpooner Queequeg, with whom he becomes friends, as well as the first officer Starbuck (Emilram Cossío), who is the voice of reason on the ship Pequod, whose captain, Ahab (Rodrigo Sánchez Patiño), is obsessed with revenge on the white whale Moby Dick, who cut off his leg.

“My purpose with this work is to keep a great literary work alive,” Els Vandell, who adapted the novel to theater for children, told El Comercio. She says that her intention was also to raise awareness among the young public about the danger that whales are in, still persecuted by hunting, as well as the issue of revenge, and that people are increasingly listening to each other less and less. to the others. To convey these themes, she was given a voice and face to Moby Dick, played by Grapa Paola, who maintains dialogues with the character of Roxana Rodríguez. “It’s exciting to hear the kids identify and laugh. That surprised me,” said the playwright after a performance, which she had with children of various ages, who did not converse with each other during the performance, and who responded to the ingenuity of the characters.

“I feel that laughter is an indispensable tool in life, and even more so when you work for the family, for the children. [La obra] It has to be very visual and there has to be humor. So, yes, it has been hard work on a novel that is difficult,” commented Vandell, who added physical comedy to this story, where the sailors are in constant movement, and they express something with their bodies as well as verbally. where things are necessarily added to the original work, a text that the adapter considered “a little chaotic.”

“[La novela] “It has different styles, in part it is more journalistic, then more philosophical, suddenly full of action,” Vandell mentioned and highlighted again the theme of revenge, to which a counterpart is added: “I found in whales a world full of love, full of communication.”

This is a free version, with emphasis on the adjective. The ending is different from that of the novel, in addition to having other changes, such as turning the character of Ismael into a woman; The work emphasizes the gender identity of this character. A decision that was important for the writer. “How many women are there who can pilot a plane? How many women are there who can be ship captains? The novel had many elements that make us talk and look at ourselves today,” she said.