Looking Into the Stands (Mirando al Tendido

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=25% BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="0d1ad653.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="home page"><IMG SRC="0d2b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="plays.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Complete List of Plays"><IMG SRC="0d3b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="General Information Latest News"><IMG SRC="0d4b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></FONT><A HREF="de_la_perra.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marco Antonio de la Parra"><IMG SRC="0d7b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="ramos_perea.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Roberto RamosPerea"><IMG SRC="0d8b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="sieveking.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alejandro Sieveking"><IMG SRC="0e2b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="santana.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rodolfo Santana"><IMG SRC="0dab51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="rovner.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eduardo Rovner"><IMG SRC="0d9b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="schmidt_huber.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guillermo Schmidhuber"><IMG SRC="0e1b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><A HREF="mn.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maritza Núñez"><IMG SRC="123b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="kardun.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mauricio Kartun"><IMG SRC="0d5b51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></FONT><A HREF="cpt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Message from the Host of Latin America"><IMG SRC="0deb51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="email.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Place an order / Contact Us"><IMG SRC="0dfb51f0.jpg" border=0 width="181" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A></FONT></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="0cf5c5c3.gif"> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="102aad20.jpg" border=0 width="170" height="210" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> <bR> <div> Looking Into the Stands (Mirando al Tendido</div> <bR> <div> AUTHOR: <A HREF="santana.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rodolfo Santana">Rodolfo Santana</A></div> <div> COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Venezuela</div> <bR> <div> translated by Prof. Charles Philip Thomas</div> <bR> <div> CAST: El Niño, the matador. Florentino, the bull.</div> <bR> <div> SCENIC REQUIREMENTS: A bullring.</div> <bR> <div> SYNOPSIS: </div> <bR> <div> Looking Into the Stands is a theatrical meditation on death as well as life. Using the bullfight ritual, the symbolism associated with the arena spectacle, the bull and the matador face each other in a true tête-à-tête, wherein the roles are reversed and the hierarchies interchanged. It is the beast, in this case, who questions the worthiness of an announced and gratuitous death. The right to live, love and die a dignified death is akin to both, humans and beasts. It is, in fact, the tension between the grandiose dreams of a mediocre bullfighter and the simple desires of a sensitive bull which come together in the same ring as a metaphor of the dichotomy of life itself from a humanistic point of view. With a refined sense of humor, one of Santana's distinctive traits, the author delivers another play in which he uses death to make life triumph in all its splendor, but also in its simplicity.</div> <bR> <div> Looking Into the Stands describes the events of a particular bullfight. There are only two characters, the bull and the matador. While the traditional pasodoble plays, signalling the beginning of the contest, El Niño prays to the patron saint of bullfighters, La Macarena.</div> <bR> <div> As the relationship between the two characters develops we understand that the play portrays nothing less than their interdependence. Florentino recalls on several occasions the lessons passed on to him in his youth, all revolving around the bullfight. He speaks wistfully of the Blue Meadow, which comes to be compared to Heaven, ``only with cows'' he says.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="118cf2a0.jpg" border=0 width="207" height="298" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="15" VSPACE="0">Throughout the play, in fact, Florentino puts a critical eye to El Niño's methodology in the ring, criticizing him and the diminished condition of bullfighting, even going so far as to actually coach him. He speaks negatively of those bulls who do not believe in the ``grand struggle'' of the bullfight, who deliberately act as cowards in order to bypass the ring and go directly to the slaughterhouse. Although this may seem unbelievable at first, it becomes apparent that Florentino, and bulls in general, know they must die, but to die at the hand of an unglamorous, awkward, unrefined, matador is to die without honor. Consequently, we learn from the dialogue that Florentino is well educated in the history and etiquette of the ring and places his respect in both. It is, and perhaps this is the most important point he is trying to make, in the tradition of the bullfight that his imminent death makes sense. </div> <bR> <div> El Niño, on the other hand, is pure ego. He ridicules the past to which his opponent refers as nothing more than ancient history. When the bull cites precedent and compares him to specific individuals, El Niño defends himself as an excellent bullfighter, as if saying it proves its validity. The issue of a bullfight columnist is particularly poignant here, as his column makes or breaks a matador. Florentino says the columnist is corrupt and easily bribed, and if this is so, then what is greatness? Is it something to be achieved in the ring or the ability to cop a big check? According to Florentino, this was not always so, and refers to the paintings of Goya as examples of the ring's once artistic stature. The greatness of bullfighting has been lost and is now only a ``miserable and dirty catechism.''</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="latbook.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Latin American Theater in Translation (b"><IMG SRC="121699f0.jpg" border=0 width="105" height="159" ALT=" " ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="15" VSPACE="0"></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >The only history which El Niño seems to remember is that he is victorious and the bull must die, those are the ``rules'' to which he refers. Just as Florentino's death is honorless without a refined and skilled bullfighter to administer the coup de grace, El Niño's victory would ring hollow should his opponent prove to be without stamina, ferocity, and valiance. Mirroring the coaching he received from the bull, the matador delivers encouragement. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> It is not until El Niño develops a respect for the role played by Florentino in his success, that the bull resigns himself to the fate to which his role leads. Having successfully transformed El Niño into a true matador, he may die with honor. The chance to die with honor inspires Florentino to fulfill his destiny. Although a significant amount of the dialogue consists of the characters verbally abusing each other and throwing into question the beliefs held by the other, they realize that it is not an adversarial, but dependent relationship they share.</div> <bR> <div> (Synopsis by Mario Ernesto Sánchez)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Other plays by <A HREF="santana.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rodolfo Santana">Rodolfo Santana</A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="touristt_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tourists Influence On The Incline Of The"><B>Tourists' Influence on the Incline of the leaning Tower of Pisa (</B></A><A HREF="touristt_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tourists Influence On The Incline Of The"><I><B>La influencia tourística en la inclinación de la Torre de Pisa</B></I></A><A HREF="touristt_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tourists Influence On The Incline Of The"><I>)</I></A></div> <div> <A HREF="time_of_fire.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time of Fire (Tiempo del Fuego) "><B>Time of Fire (</B></A><A HREF="time_of_fire.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time of Fire (Tiempo del Fuego) "><I><B>Tiempo del Fuego</B></I></A><A HREF="time_of_fire.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time of Fire (Tiempo del Fuego) "><B>) </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mensroom.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mens Room (Baño de Caballeros) "><B>The Men's Room (</B></A><A HREF="mensroom.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mens Room (Baño de Caballeros) "><I><B>Baño de Caballeros</B></I></A><A HREF="mensroom.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mens Room (Baño de Caballeros) "><B>) </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="audience.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dramatic Poem to Make the Audience Sleep"><B>Dramatic Poem to Make the Audience Sleep (</B></A><A HREF="audience.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dramatic Poem to Make the Audience Sleep"><I><B>Obra para hacer dormir al público</B></I></A><A HREF="audience.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dramatic Poem to Make the Audience Sleep"><B>)</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ladiesroom.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ladies Room (Baño de Damas) ">The Ladies Room (Baño de Damas)</A></div> <div> <A HREF="never_lose.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Never Lose Your Head Over a Swedish Doll">Never Lose Your Head Over a Swedish Doll (Nunca entregues tu corazom a una muneca sueca</A></div> <div> <A HREF="never_lose.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Never Lose Your Head Over a Swedish Doll">)</A><A HREF="encounter.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=")Encounter in the Dangerous Park (Encuen">Encounter in the Dangerous Park (Encuentro en el parque peligroso)</A></div> <div> <A HREF="lost_angel.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lost Angel in a Hostile City (Angel perd">Lost Angel in a Hostile City (Angel perdido en una ciudad hostil)</A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>