The Uncapturable
Lo incapturable
by Rubén Szuchmacher (Argentina)
Photo (c) Gustavo Gavotti
Published by Bloomsbury in 2020, The Uncapturable is a wide-ranging reflection on the art of the mise en scène from the perspective of leading Argentinian theatre director Rubén Szuchmacher. It offers a timely and concise, though comprehensive, survey of the role and responsibility of the theatre director from the earliest times to the twenty-first century.
Szuchmacher defines theatre as the confluence of four art forms – architecture, visual art, sound and literature – whose works only truly exist in the moment of encounter with an audience. He argues that, by taking full account of these four art forms, analysing them in detail and engaging thoughtfully with the many specialists who come together to bring a mise en scène into being, the director of today can still create work that innovates and inspires.
The Uncapturable is as valuable to the apprentice director emerging from their training as it is to the veteran in need of fresh reflection. Szuchmacher draws on the unique learnings gleaned from working in Argentina, be it the impact on theatre of politics, the need for inventiveness in times of hardship, the phenomenon of Argentine ‘circus theatre’ or the adaptation of literary giants such as Borges, affording the Anglophone reader an alternative perspective on the ideas of theatre we often take for granted.
Szuchmacher offers a unique blend of global knowledge, historical awareness and a pragmatic, resourceful and creative approach from a theatre artist working in Latin American through decades of change.
“For over fifty years actor-director Rubén Szuchmacher has been one of the best kept secrets in Latin American theatre. Here, in his acclaimed first book, he provides a series of shrewd reflections on theatre and the ways in which its mysteries come into being in the presence of the audience. The poetics of space, the logic of time and the relationship between mise en scène and direction are all explored with clarity and vigour. The Uncapturable is an erudite, lively and highly readable book about the hows and the whys of theatre-making, drawing on Szuchmacher’s lived experience of training generations of actors, directors, teachers and programmers in Argentina.” Professor Maria Delgado, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
The Uncapturable is published by Methuen Drama as part of the Theatre Makers series.
The translation was supported by Programa Sur, the translation programme of the Ministry of International Affairs, Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic.
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