When fact is fiction and TV reality

A play review of Proyeccin Privada

Proyeccin Privada is a play written by Remi de Vos and directed by

Gilbert Rouvire. Presented in the Centro Cultural PUPC starring Miguel
Iza, Jimena Lindo and Norma Martinez. The play tells the story of a woman
whose husband has gotten a lover, and she quickly knows about this, but
is too distracted to do anything because of television, which has her
completely disconnected from the world.
After numerous tries by the husband to reconcile with her wife, strangely,
at the command of the lover, she realizes that everything can be solved,
using soap opera logic, so she makes friends with the lover, and reconciles
with the husband, only to murder them using rat poison.
This leads me to believe that this plays focuses on how technology has a
really massive effect in our lives. The same box that entertains us for
hours on end and brings lots of problems, like the sort of addiction we see
in the play, or total disconnection it causes to some people, can also help
us and make us realize that every problem has a solution, like the solution
the wife uses at the end of the play. Even if that solution is not beneficial
for everyone.
The design elements of this play are very simple, and very dull, I believe
on purpose, to represent an ordinary, boring life lead by this couple. The
stage has a couch to the side, two doors, on at the back and one at the
left side of the stage, a TV set in front, maybe to represent the importance
it has in the plot, a window, and a clock, which acquires significance right
after the death of the two characters, when it remains lit up before the
bows.
No scene changes happen during the play, but the mood is dramatically
altered by the use of lighting. During the cut sequences, which I think help
divide the play into important segments, the lighting bathes the stage in
blue, and everything brightens up, two little tables with different objects,
like a cigarette or a drink come out of either side, and the actors also
dramatically change their way of acting, making shorter but more fluid
movements, trading places near the tables in a cyclic order, maybe
representing a change in the order of things.
This brings me to the acting. The use of body is actually very clear. Each
actors way of moving evolves throughout the play, but remains within a
describable realm. For Example, at the beginning, the husband is tired and

maybe a little drunk, while the wife is static and emotionless. The lover is
very, very drunk and her movements are not very coherent, in the same
way as her speech. As the play progresses, the lover gains more
consciousness and starts having a more important role in the things that
happen in the play, encouraging the husband to reconcile with his wife, for
example. The wife, although still glued to the television, starts having
more dialogs, and progressively starts leaving the couch. The husband
displays more natural movements. Suddenly, the world switches to the
soap opera logic, and characters completely change their personality,
displaying a huge amount of TV clichs for comedic effect. After a sudden
realization by the wife, everything changes back to normal, but the
atmosphere lightens up, since we are lead to think that the lover, the wife
and the husband have all put their differences apart.
The management of the plot is also very interesting, since the time is
fairly lineal, but they seem to switch worlds, that are governed by
totally different moral and behavioural laws each time. For example, in the
real world, the setting is quite dull, and while the lover tries to get the
husband to reconcile, the wife does not leave the television screen. For
other moments, we go into the fantasy world, were sense doesnt seem
to exist. The relationship between characters is completely neutral, and
the actions performed seemingly dont need a reason to be. Also, for
some reason, they switch to be animal-headed wandering creatures,
almost for fun I would think. In yet another time, they go into TV land
were soap operas come to life, and the moral laws of real life are replaced
by the absurd behaviour we all see in said shows. Strangely, for the wife,
being in this world helps her realize the solution to all of her problems
(killing them both). Although this actually solves her problems, it is totally
not OK in the real world, though it probably is in a soap opera.
Something that I consider quite important for the plot is the costumes.
They really clearly present the characters personality beforehand. Now, I
dont quite know how it is, since I see no stereotypes are being used, but
for example, the lovers dress at the beginning shows a sort-of-low-life
woman, while the coat used by the soap character clearly shows us the
typical rich-man-from-an-affluent-family look seen many times in soap
operas. I think these clear statements in time and plot, really engage the
audience, and probably were done on purpose, to represent the lack of
depth of TV shows today. The author carefully chose these characteristics
to represent bad television, but also to be engaging and interesting,
making a contrast that is also present in modern television.
All of these characteristics and elements, in the end, show truly how our
lives can be shaped by television, and how the addiction can bring

problems, like the miscommunication in couples or families, but can also

be beneficial, helping our problem-solving and our reasoning. Overall, I
really liked this play, since it makes you think, but it didnt feel slow at any
point. It was engaging throughout, and the humour made the topic seem
much lighter than it actually is.
Arieh Chrem
When fact is fiction and TV reality Quote from Sunday Bloody Sunday U2