The hall was full, but I managed to sit in one of the adapted chairs around the lunette. How would the makers manage to transfer La Casa de Papote from the television screen to the surface of the Centro Cultural Teatro Tuyo? We already knew that it was not going to be a copy of the audiovisual program.
The symbolic tree of noses that defines "yours" can be physically observed on the left, on the small board, very close to the blue door that opens La Casa... Fragments of the television program are projected at the back of the stage. On the right, a banner of the play Fiesta de Narices and another with the identifying logo of the clown troupe accompanied the stage. Details also communicate.
Soon, the children's company Teatro Tuyo, led by Aixa Prowl, floods the audience with scooters, colors, jumps, and joy. Then Papote arrives - with pram included - and explains what the initiative is about. Each time a different theme will be addressed, where guests will join in and a dynamic of participation with the audience will be developed. The third season of the television program, consisting of 20 episodes, will be released soon, he announces.
And then the first guests arrive Clarissa Damila Pérez Hernández and Ridel Meriño, together with their little daughter Valentina. The clown-leader questions them curiously, wanting to know how they manage to be such active and successful professionals being young parents and with other functions within the beautiful locomotive that is culture (they are musicians, actors, teachers... ). They confess the key: the support of the family.
But Parra is not satisfied and puts them on the spot: "Let's see, sing us one of the songs you share with your little girl". Quickly we hear: "But one day the doctor arrived, driving a four-wheeler and you know what happened? "(El Brujito de Gulubú or La canción de la Vacuna). Clari intermittently sings the song looking at his princess, while the red-nosed being demonstrates his skills as a comic interlocutor.
These and other moments reveal Ernesto's capacity for improvisation, for here the lines are not learned but flow with the blessed circumstance. Yanelis Rodríguez Escamuchero, responsible for the animation, designs, and backgrounds of La Casa de Papote (audiovisual program), is also interviewed. And that is the idea: to bring together friends, family members, and all those who can be happy.
The dialogue with children from the audience is also revealing. As Martí said: "Children know more than they seem to, and if they were allowed to write what they know, they would write very good things". Papote asks them about the theme of this first group: "What is your house like? What is the most important thing about it? And they quickly answer sentences like: "My house is green like nature", "I love my parents and sister" and "the most important thing is the family."
The Centro Cultural Teatro Tuyo is once again a symbiosis of good emotions and complicity. Sabina can be heard singing at some point in Contigo: "...And die with you if you kill yourself/ and kill me with you if you die/ because love, when it doesn't die, kills/ because loves that kill never die...". Love is in the air. And no wonder. Papote receives a call from his boss (someone named Ernesto Parra jjj...), who reminds him of his task.
"How can I forget, boss, I proceed...", he replies (paraphrased). And Papote, on behalf of Parra, gives a bouquet to Aixa Prowl on their 15th wedding anniversary." She pays him back with tears in her eyes. Exciting.
The club includes several things: games, songs, raffles, interviews, performances, and other garnishes. It is a kind of oasis for an audience thirsty for artistic performances. We see the little ones on stage, guided by the clown guide, perform - for example - the Chipi chipi dance, with innocent and funny skeleton movements like those of Elsi, the youngest one. The initiative, in general, captivates the audience, that's what matters. Laughter, applause, and photos with the main artist, once the show is over, are proof of this.
On leaving, children are given a piece of chalk to draw their impressions in front of the Teatro Tuyo Cultural Centre. Houses, hearts, and other elements emanate from their imagination. And observing these creations, to me, an adult with the soul of a child, La Casa de Papote is also the headquarters of the theatre company, the place where its inhabitants arrive every day - on foot or by any other means - to defend the art of clowning, against vermin, absurd mentalities, shortages, blackouts, and a long etcetera, the art that goes deep into the hearts and brains of all ages.
