Starting with the tour of ‘Oceania’, the monologue Gerardo Vera prepared for him before he died of covid, the Madrid interpreter looks with concern to the future of world society in these troubled times. He likes to say the same as Mario Benedetti: “You know you can count on me”
We have a duty to try to change things,” says Carlos Hipólito (Madrid, 1956), a great and popular actor who is accompanied by loyalty, success and the many friends he has managed to win with his generous and transparent way of acting. are in the world. Able to send sparks flying on stage with devastating works such as David Mamet’s beautiful ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’, he is now on tour with the monologue ‘Oceania’, ‘Gerardo Vera’s Artistic and Vital Testament’, his latest project. That’s why the coronavirus put an end to an exciting life. A text, directed by José Luis Arellano, which fills the stalls with emotion.
– And how is he now?
– Calm down. I feel very satisfied with everything that is happening to me, and I am happy because I have a wonderful wife and daughter, who are in phenomenal health and also very happy and very good; our life together is great, and the truth is that i have no shortage of work. The projects I participate in are very interesting and rewarding. I don’t know what more to ask of life. If I complained, it would be to give me a few slaps.
– But then listen to hundreds of uncomforting news…
– When you think about everything that is happening in the world today, you probably want to crawl under the bed and not stick your head out. I remember one of these funny memes they sent you that said that with everything that’s happening – the pandemic, the war, the natural disasters… – if an alien came to get me now, I wouldn’t drink it as a kidnapping but as a ransom. You have to focus on the day and on what is closest to you, without losing sight of that what surrounds us is very disturbing and very destabilizing.
– What isn’t it worth?
– Not at all, trying to impose our reason above that of others. It doesn’t get you anywhere, it doesn’t grow you, it doesn’t enrich you. Unfortunately, I see that as a society we are becoming more and more entrenched in ‘I am right and you are not’. This climate of permanent confrontation is dangerous. It seems that we can only talk to people who think like us, and that’s a big mistake that leads nowhere.
– And your proposal?
– I think it is worth fighting for a climate of more dialogue and more reconciliation. We’re all very nervous because we really live in a society that favors it, which puts us in a permanent race that we don’t quite know where it leads us, kind of a race with no brakes to be the most into anything . We are nervous because we feel pressured and pushed to compete. And that’s what makes society so tense and uneducated; we are no longer permeable to the ideas of others, which makes us more uneducated and intolerant. That path leads to a much sadder and more unhappy society.
– What surprises you?
– In politics, for example, this kind of reverse gear that’s taking place in much of the planet, the cutback on rights and freedoms. It seems to me that the resurgence of the far right around the world is huge, and it must undoubtedly also be a symptom that we are doing something wrong. And faced with that, there is a lack of politicians who understand each other and who do not impose their ideas, doctrines and party interests. In general, we have a political class that has a much lower cultural and moral height than the early years of our democracy, and that worries me because it seems that we are taking steps backwards. We would need a different political class at a time when the planet seems to have become some kind of permanent war. Starting with the fact that we are the first to be at war with it, with people who still deny climate change and don’t realize that we are really destroying this place and that if we continue like this, the earth will eventually let us down . from. And I refer to the evidence, there are already millions of symptoms of it.
– What would be needed?
– More empathy eg. On the one hand, we have a society that is tremendously empathetic and supportive in certain very dramatic moments, but nevertheless, on a day-to-day basis, we as a society are very unsupportive, a society that reads less and tweets more.
– And in favor?
– There are many good people you can trust. The solution is not to live on a desert island. You have to trust in people, say sixty or seventy percent [sonríe].
– This sentence is yours: “People in need defend their jobs with nails, teeth and whatever.”
– That’s how it is. Unfortunately, if you look closely, there are plays—by David Memet, by Arthur Miller…—that have become classics because they challenge the social realities that still exist, such as massive inequalities. It seems we don’t punish.
– Exactly, David Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ gave you one of your greatest hits.
– This work reflects very well the manipulation to which this capitalism in which we live is subject. It shows very well how, in order to keep their jobs, workers are encouraged to do the worst of themselves: in competition, in dropping the other to survive the one, and in accepting those rules of the game that are so be terrible. Blowing up the system is, of course, very complicated, but it is necessary and urgent to salvage a kind of education that considers respect for others and is committed to values that are more human than mercantile. While the system remained the same, it would be good if the people who put it into practice every day were more humane. When people in dire need are in a position to defend their jobs, they do so tooth and nail and whatever it takes; we’re talking about his family’s life, his own survival, his future…
– What would you do if your way of life was in danger?
– Pulling out nails and teeth, right? Naturally! What would we all do differently? It’s terrible.
– Have you ever wanted to run away?
– Yes yes of course! More than once you say ‘stop the world, I’m getting out’. When injustices, especially when you see that there is no way to make things right, the feeling of powerlessness is very great, and the truth is that sometimes they have made me run away.
– And what did he end up doing?
– Stay and try to fix what I can. I’m left with the desire to run away, but I don’t because we have an obligation to try and change things.
– Did you ever get out?
– I’m not someone who is very prone to depression, and in general I have a pretty cheerful disposition, but over the years I’ve had moments where I was a little lower of course, but I never got to the bottom of the bottom. And I think it’s partly because there have been a lot of things that have helped me, like the child I still carry inside, the complicity with my wife and my daughter, good friends… I’ve had moments of uncertainty, from low, but I never got desperate.
– How was that kid you talked about?
– A very happy and very good boy, very well behaved and in very good shape [risas]. It was fortunate to have parents who were two extremely good people, and intelligent, educated and cheerful, who gave me millions of crutches to take them out of the closet, because I’m lame, depending on what kind of things. I was also always a kid who was fascinated by the theater, where my parents took me a lot.
– What fun can not do without?
– Every day I sing a little, and not just in the shower [ríe]. I even made my own songs. It is a wonderful pleasure that is also not expensive at all.
– They have come to call him, because of his participation in the TVE series “Cuéntame how it happened”, “the voice of the transition”.
– Yes, what a responsibility, the voice of Spain’s recent history! [Risas] I have become a familiar voice to many people, I am a little bit Matías Prats Sr. going to feel! It is becoming increasingly apparent that it was a stage of immense cultural height and vision in this country. The Transition was a fantastic stage, taking us out of a very dark tunnel in which we have spent so many years; and the politicians, both on the one side and on the other, and unlike those of today, understood each other and were proud. In universal history, the Spanish transition is a benchmark.
– What do you usually read?
– Mostly poetry lately. Poets discover new worlds for me and often comfort me. I am an absolute fan of García Lorca and a great admirer of Mario Benedetti, whom I never tire of reading.
– What is there to know?
– Live every moment with the weapons you have, without trying to reproduce things from the past. Faced with the passage of time, you acquiesce in losing many things, but also rejoice in what you gain. Over the years, life makes us a little smarter, a little wiser; we have a little more time to process the setbacks. A few years ago, I was stressed by things that I don’t care about now.
– What did you learn from Gerardo Vera?
– He had a very powerful, overwhelming personality. He was a very educated, intelligent man, with a great sense of humor and sometimes a lot of bad drool. A very attractive character and a great creator. I was lucky enough to be his friend and to work with him. ‘Oceania’ is for me a unique and unrepeatable experience. When Gerardo told me I was going to do this monologue, I told him no, that I wouldn’t do it because I’d never done it, and didn’t want to do it now. I like to be accompanied on stage. But he insisted a lot, and when I read the text it caused an emotional catastrophe as it moved me from page one.
– What counts in the monologue?
– My life has nothing to do with Gerardo’s, nothing at all, but I think ‘Oceania’ talks about things that are recognizable to all of us Spaniards. It tells about his childhood, his adolescence and his early childhood. He was a quirky boy who felt different and needed to find his place in the world. And he managed to write a universal story. Who among the inhabitants of this planet did not at some point in their childhood feel different, strange, as if they did not belong? In the end he won the match and I told him yes I would but we never got to rehearse because unfortunately he died of covid before we started. In the end we decided to stage the show as a tribute to him. ‘Oceania’ gives me some of the most amazing moments I’ve ever experienced on stage.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
