En un sol amarillo. Memorias de un temblor

En un sol amarillo [In a Yellow Sun], a work that reflects on tragedy and corruption, recounts the story of a community faced with devastation. It is based on the earthquake that destoyed dozens of Bolivian communities in 1998. The cities of Aiquile, Totora, Mizque, the rural communities of Antakawa, Loma Larga, Chijmuri, Hoyadas, Chakamayu and others were battered by the quake: homes destroyed, others irreparably damaged, hundreds injured, dozens dead. Teatro de Los Andes travelled to the cities and rural communities to gather horrific accounts. Every line in this play comes from those narratives.

The international community sent all types of aid, which was valued at nearly $30 million. The Bolivian government, through Civil Defence and the army, organised aid distribution and reconstruction. Before long, voices were raised about corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds, abuses against people. We studied the histories of other earthquakes. It seems that in each earthquake, generosity and selfishness coexist. Pettiness and solidarity. Abuses and theft, particularly on the part of the authorities, have been a constant in Latin America’s earthquakes.

An earthquake stops being news the moment the victims start to take stock of it. When the cameras get turned off and the reporters leave, the survivors begin to get to know the earthquake, to live day after day with what was destroyed; to rebuild. We want to thank the inhabitants of these communities. We hope that this work measures up to their sincerity; that it serves as a condemnation and memory, and that it does not betray their selfless and desperate narratives.

Premiered in 2004, En un sol amarillo was presented in various cities in Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and India, with more than 300 performances.