Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 549
(upbeat music) - Welcome back and everyone to a fabulous new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We are joined by an amazing artist who's bringing us a wonderful production making its New York premiere. Today, we've got the actor Ignacio Garcia Bustello who's joining us to talk about water people theater's presentation of the delicate tears of the waning moon. It's playing June 11th through the 21st at Teatro Repitori Español and you can get your tickets and more information by visiting Repitorio.myseed. This is a fantastic show and we are so excited to be bringing it to you. So let's not wait any longer. Let's go ahead and welcome on our guests Ignacio. Welcome to Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you for having me and hello to everybody. - It's wonderful having you here. I'm so excited to jump into this piece, the delicate tears of the waning moon. So why don't we start by having you tell us a little bit about what this show is about? - It is about the freedom of praise and it's about journalism and it's about social justice, I think. And it's about, of course, you know, all the pieces are about a relationship. In this case, is the relationship between, you know, two coworkers that have been involved in an investigation, you know, like researching some things and like in their work at a newspaper. One of the, like the coworker, like Paulina, I'm Rodrigo, I'm plain Rodrigo, Rebecca Aliman is playing Paulina and, you know, like she's, she's been shot, she's been in coma for 11 months. She wakes up and she has a speech impediment. So I'm helping her to recover her memory and the language. And with that, all the memories that are necessary to also continue the investigation in the case. And also it's an excuse, you know, like to delve into the relationship between them. - What about that? That's really a fascinating story. So how is it you came upon this piece? - It was kind of like they were looking, they did this production in Chicago many years ago before the pandemic. They wanted to bring the production to New York to get more exposure and to get a little more press and to have a longer run because they, like if they had this, their run in Chicago was very successful and they had good reviews. So they wanted to extend that and come here to New York. So they were looking for an actor and somebody recommended my name for the auditions. We had some auditions, we thought I was a good fit for the part and we started the process basically. It was very simple. That is wonderful, wonderful. Now, as I mentioned at the top of the show, this is the New York premiere of this piece. So I would love to, what has it been like developing the production in this current form? - So like for now the company is still in Chicago and we started the rehearsal process like a couple of weeks ago. So rehearsals are through Zoom or Google meets in this case, you know, but it's just three hours a day, a lot of table work and analyzing the text. It's the early stages of the production and the early stages of the rehearsal. And it's been interesting developing. I think it's the first time for me, you know, like rehearsing a play online basically before they come here to the CDM, we have like rehearsals in person. So it's interesting to develop a relationship with the actors and with the director like online. It's a different process, but it's, we feel confident that we are making it work. And it's, we are surprised at how much connection we can get even through a camera, you know, like through an online rehearsal type of start type of rehearsal, an online rehearsal basically. Yeah. - The new world, if you do it at all. - The new post on the new world. - Of course, yeah. - Well, that's wonderful. Now let me ask you kind of snowballing off of all of that. Is there a message or a thought you hope people will take away from this production? - Well, I would say, you know, like how fragile, you know, like it's freedom of press is always under siege. And especially in these times, you know, like we are all witnessing in real time, you know, how, what that means and how we need to be protective of these platforms that we have. If we wanna protect, you know, democracy. So very basic, very basic, you know, like structures that we have in society to so that everybody feels safe and secure and everybody has to some extent same opportunities and chances. - I love that. Say that again for the people in the back is absolutely, especially now more than ever, with everything going on in the world, it's so important that the freedom of the press remains. My final question for this first part is, who do you hope have access to the delicate tears of the waning moon? - Everybody who's interested in all like the play is gonna be in Spanish. There is gonna be subtitles in English. But because of the venue or a partore Español, you know, like if the production is gonna be presented in English, they switched to Spanish, but a partore who has an audience of Spanish speakers, but also, you know, like American people in interested in Spanish speaking culture, Hispanic culture in general. But everybody really with an interest in social justice I think should come see this play. (upbeat music) - Well, on the second part of our show, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pull the curtain back, if you will. And I wanna start by asking you, what are who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past? Or just some of your favorites? - This is, I love European theater. I'm originally from Spain and that is my background. I just like my favorite places here in the city to go see theater are those who embrace a little more with the international arena, you know, as I was saying. Most of my favorite directors, I love the theater in New York. And like there are many productions that I love, but I have, there's a special place in my heart for some other foreign directors and productions, like Robert LaPaj or, you know, like Ivo van Hove, for instance, that push, it feels like they push the boundaries a little more on what's traditional here in the US. Personally, and this is me and this might be controversial, I hate when I go to a theater and I see like a traditional setting of, you know, like a couch or something like that. I think the theater is more interesting when it's a little less realistic. In my opinion, you know, there's more place for imagination to play and to see the actors is the famous empty space by Peter Brooke in a way, right? There are some directors here, you know, like Robert, Robert Wilson that having pushed in boundaries, you know, like for many years too, you know, like I'm more drawn to those kinds of productions that tend to push the boundaries a little more. That's what inspired me. - I love that list, some new names there for us to explore. So that's wonderful. I would love to know what is your favorite part about working in the theater? - The community, you know, like this sense of community and working with other people and being exposed to different ideas and ways of working and ways of thinking. And also, you know, like by extent, you know, when you tour and travel and go to different places, which is something that happens when you do theater. Like I've been working in Washington and between the US and in Spain too, of course, before I came here to the US. And you get to know new places and new people, new ways of doing things, you know, like that's, for me, that's the essence of theater, you know, and that's something that the audience, hopefully the audience walks away with that sense of feeling too. When you get to see a new play and you get exposed to new ideas and new ways of thinking and new perspectives, you know, new ways of seeing things. Sometimes, you know, things that you think you have an opinion about and then you see a play and then, you know, you could start questioning things in a different way. That is what's most interesting for me. As an audience member and as an actor, you know, and as a director as well. - That is a brilliant answer. I really, really love that. Well, that's a great lead into my favorite question to ask guests and that of course is what is your favorite theater memory? Touring for sure. Touring is always great because of the reasons that I mentioned before, you know, you get exposed to different environments and people and places and it's very stimulating. It's very, I dread routine in many ways. This makes you be on your toes, getting, being in different places and with different people, different environments and exposed to different things makes you be on your toes at all times in a good way for me. You know, it's a feeling that I relish and my best memories in theater are always associated with that kind of feeling. If that makes sense, does that answer your question in some ways, in a roundabout way? - I have a, I have a, I mean like a, like a story like that too, which is like for me, you know, the show that changed everything. Like, for me as an actor and as a director and conceptually what theater meant to me, it opened doors, you know, like it was, it was back in Spain. I was, you know, right, graduated from acting school and I went to see this play by Robert LaPaj. It was the far side of the moon, which was so unlike anything that I had seen before and it opened like I eat amplified, you know, the meaning of what theater was supposed to be, you know, like, like it was kind of like, I always think of theater, I always make a lot of comparisons between theater and film and how photography and paint, you know, how photography changed painting in a way that liberated painting from being realistic and being more like photography covered that field at some point of being realistic, you know, like picturing the moments. I don't know if I'm making sense right now. Like the reality of a specific moment, you see a lot of paintings where are very realistic and very, and then photography happens and photography covers that side of the spectrum of painting or, you know, like picturing a moment in reality. And then all of a sudden, you know, painting becomes something else is to liberate painting from having to be so descriptive. And then you have all these new styles, you know, be more abstract or more surrealist. And for me, you know, like theater, film has that role to be more realistic. And for me, theater is more liberating when it's more free and finds, I'm getting into, you know, like, like this is kind of like, we need to cut this. It's too long probably. I got into a deeper conversation that I don't think we have the time to explore. But all to say that when I went to see, you know, that show by Robert LaPache, it really freed and opened this stage for me for a more imaginative and more creative way of making theater. - That's a wonderful, wonderful thought. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. As we wrap things up, I would love to know if our listeners would love more information about the delicate tears of the waning mood or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you. How can they do so? - Well, so this is a company, as you mentioned, in the introduction is Water People Theater. If you go to the website or you reach out to the director of the play or the playwright or the play who's also, you know, the main, the lead actress, you know, Rebecca Leman, she's the playwright and lead actress. And Ira Ghatapias, she's the director of the play and they are both heavily involved. They are the founders and the people running or a people theater. They could reach out to them directly. And as of me, you know, like, I'm Ignat-E-Rite Ustello, you can look me up and you can find my information online and take it from there. - Wonderful. Well, Ignacio, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing this amazing, timely, important piece of theater, as well as all of your insight. This has been truly just such a lovely conversation. So thank you so much for your time today. - Thank you for having me and thank you so much for this, it's being a pleasure being here. - Thank you. My guest today has been the amazing actor, Ignacio Garcia Ustello, who's currently informing in water people theaters presentation of the delicate tears of the waning moon. It's playing July 11th through the 21st at Teatro Repitorio Espenol. And you can get your tickets more information by visiting the Repitorio.NYC. We also have some contact information for our guests, which we'll be posting on our episode description as well as on our social media posts. Right now, head on over to Repitorio.NYC and get your tickets for this incredible piece of theater, the delicate tears of the waning moon playing July 11th through the 21st. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. - In a stage-wister. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review, like and subscribe. - You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at StageWhisperPod. - And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperPod@gmail.com. - And be sure to check out our website for all things StageWhisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets, and more. Simply visit stagewhisperPod.com. Our theme song is Maniac by Jazar. Other music on this episode provided by Jazar and Billy Murray. You can also become a patron of our show by logging on to patreon.com/stagewhisperPod. There you will find all the information about our backstage pass as well as our tip jar. Thank you so much for your generosity. We could not do the show without you. (upbeat music) ♪ Take me there anywhere near your town ♪ ♪ Take me there ♪