Out of the Wings

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Juego de 2 (1997-2008), Raúl Hernández Garrido

Scene

The play begins in the Body’s apartment, but the rest of the action takes place in the Client’s large house.

Staging

Staging is very important to this play. The stage and the montage of photographs projected are meant to resemble a piece of installation art, with the stage itself reminiscent of the inside of a camera lens. The Client’s house is old and well-furnished, with a spacious living room. The room has certain elements that disconcert the Body, including the full-length broken mirror and the closed venetian blinds. In the programme notes for the 2009 production by El Desván theatre company, director Juan José Villanueva describes how the space should be a claustrophobic mix of the everyday and the unnerving. The Body is never physically forced to stay with the Client, and yet she nonetheless appears to be trapped. This situation is likened by Villanueva to Luis Buñuel’s 1961 film El ángel exterminador (The Exterminating Angel), in which the guests at a dinner party seem to be psychologically rather than physically trapped in a house.

Photographs

At a number of points grainy photographs of the Body are projected on to a large screen in the living room. These show her walking the streets or else alone in her apartment, carrying out various daily tasks. At the climax of the play, the stage stands in darkness while the Body is blinded by multiple camera flashes.

Cast number
Minimum Maximum
1 male 2 males
1 female 1 female
2 (total) 3 (total)
Cast information
The playwright explains that the ‘Stage’ and the ‘Eye’ should be thought of as members of the cast, because of the central role they both play.
Characters
  • BODY
  • CLIENT
  • VOICE
  • STAGE
  • EYE

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 8 October 2011.

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