Ramón Griffero
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Ramón Griffero Sánchez (born 29 November 1954) is a
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an playwright and theater director, one of the most prominent in his country. He is considered an emblematic figure of the national theater during the 1980s; his earliest productions are associated with cultural and political resistance to the
military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
of
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
.


Biography

The son of industrial engineer José Griffero Marcel, ex-midshipman of the ''
Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...
'', and of the Antofagastian Gabriela Sánchez Rojas, Ramón Griffero grew up with his sisters Gabriela Patricia and María Celeste. During his childhood, he traveled extensively with the family, since his mother's second husband was a Colombian diplomat, Nicasio Perdomo Godoy. Hence, he was educated at a dozen schools, among which are Saint Thomas the Apostle,
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, the , the Liceo Las Condes, the Salesian School, the Patronage of San José, and the . He entered the
University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.
in 1971 to study sociology, but two years later, following the
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
of General Augusto Pinochet against the socialist government of
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...
, he went into exile in London. There, in Britain, he finished his career with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences from the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
. In 1978, he studied at the National Film Institute of
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, where he made the short film ''L'Escargots'', and the following year he entered the Theater Studies Center of the
University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...
, from which he graduated with a Master's Degree. It was there where he made his debut as a playwright and theater director when, in 1980, he directed his first play ''Opera por un naugrage'', with the University Theater. Ramón Griffero returned to Chile in 1982, after nine years of residence in Europe. Shortly after his arrival, he began to present works in which he revealed his creative vision: a dramaturgy of strong sensations and scenic breaks, in which the traditional narrative structure is broken by the introduction of language based on poetry. From his first works, such as ''Recuerdos del hombre con su tortuga'' and, especially with the works mounted together with the company Teatro Fin de Siglo such as ''Historia de un galpón abandonado'' and ''Cinema-Utoppia'', Griffero introduced a subversive dramaturgy that marked a new direction towards greater scenic freedom. Throughout his long career, with works written and directed by him such as ''Río abajo'' and ''Éxtasis'', Griffero has managed to consolidate his style, which has been recognized by critics and the public, both in Chile and abroad. His works have as a common denominator an accentuated plastic character and a recurring use of cinematographic devices. These features demonstrate the experimental vocation of his work, whose spirit of transgression has remained intact even after the political uncertainty of the 1980s. Griffero has also ventured into narrative, with the publication of a series of short stories entitled ''Soy de la Plaza Italia''. He has played a sustained role as a mentor of new theatrical generations, teaching at various universities and transmitting a critical attitude towards the Chilean artistic scene in the last decades of the
democratic transition A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a Democracy, democratic one. The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democrat ...
. Beginning with his first local premieres, Ramón Griffero developed a dramatic approach that renewed the traditional models of the national theater. His works address the audience through themes and scenic elements that seek to awaken a reflection on the current situation of the country and contemporary society. Issues such as political conflicts and sexuality – married, associated with marginality, humiliation, and violence – are explored through spatial constructions in which the scenography plays an active role in the plot. These innovations are synthesized in the main contribution of Ramón Griffero to the theatrical language: the dramaturgy of space, a proposal whose development was assisted by the set designer Herbert Jonckers. As a professor, he has taught acting, voice, and direction classes at the School of Theater of the University of Chile, and given workshops. Griffero's works have been performed by various national and foreign theater groups and have participated in international festivals in various countries; they have also been translated and published in a number of languages. In addition, numerous European and Latin American university theses have studied their scenic conceptions. Griffero was director of the Theater School of University ARCIS from 2001 to 2014, and beginning in December of that year he directed the Camilo Henríquez Theater. Since 2017 he has held the position of Director of the , belonging to the University of Chile. Politically, Griffero is on the
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
, as his work reflects. In his youth he participated in the Revolutionary Students' Front, promoted by the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), and in Popular Unity. In 2016 he joined the
Democratic Revolution Democratic Revolution () was a Chilean centre-left to left-wing political party, founded in 2012 by some of the leaders of the 2011 Chilean student protests, most notably the current Deputy Giorgio Jackson, who is also the most popular public ...
, a party that proclaimed him a parliamentary candidate for the V Costa constituency in the November 2017 elections.


Works


Theater

* ''Ópera para un naufragio en francés'', 1980 * ''Altazor Equinoxe'', 1981, premiered at Chapelle de Briggitines, Brussels, Belgium, July 1982 * ''Recuerdos del hombre con su tortuga'', premiered at the Moneda Theater, Santiago, 1983 * ''Historia de un galpón abandonado'', premiered 18 April 1984 at the Teatro Fin de Siglo, sala El Trolley * ''Cinema-Utoppia'', premiered 15 June 1985 at the Teatro Fin de Siglo, sala El Trolley * ''99 La Morgue'', premiered 12 December 1986 at the Teatro Fin de Siglo, sala El Trolley * ''Fotosíntesis Porno'', premiered September 1988, sala Wurlitzer, within the framework of that year's plebiscite * ''Viva la república'', premiered 12 December 1989 * ''Éxtasis o La senda de la santidad'', premiered at the World Festival of Contemporary Dramaturgy, Italy, 1993 * ''La gorda'', comedy, 1994 * ''Río abajo'', 1995 * ''Las aseadoras de la ópera'', premiered at the 1996 Festival de Nuevas Tendencias under the direction of Cristián Lagresse * ''Sebastopol'', premiered October 1998 at the Cariola Theater, Santiago * ''El ginecólogo de La Legua'', 1998 * ''Almuerzos de mediodía. Brunch'' (also listed as ''Brunch o Almuerzos del mediodía''), premiered 1998 * ''Las copas de la ira'', 1999 * ''Tus deseos en fragmentos'', 2002 * ''Fin de eclipse'', 2007 * ''Prometeo, el origen'', adaptation of the Greek myth of
Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...
, 2014 * ''Alessandra'', comedy; premiere planned for 2018


Others

* ''Soy de la Plaza Italia'', stories; Los Andes, Santiago, 1992; 1st edition contains 7 stories; the 2nd, from 1994, was expanded with 5 more; the 12 it contains are: ** "Soy de la Plaza Italia", "El álbum de fotos", "Las aseadoras de la ópera", "Antofagasta 1888", "El secreto de Berlín", "El retorno de Gabriela", "La gorda", "El sello de la jirafa", "El viaggio", "En la Plaza Roja", "La santidad", and "El niño de yeso"


Awards

* First prize in the Fifth National Theater Competition for Authors for ''Recuerdos del hombre con su tortuga'', 1983 * 1985 Critics Art Circle of Santiago Award for ''Cinema-Utoppia'' * 1988 Critics Art Circle of Valparaíso Award for ''Santiago-Bauhaus'' * Award of the 1989 Radio Köln International Competition for the radio play ''La última cruzada'' (Germany) * 1992 Silver Award (Tokyo) for the educational television script ''Explorando el arte'' * Selected with ''Éxtasis'' to represent Latin American theater at the 1993 World Festival of Contemporary Dramaturgy, Veroli, Italy * 1994 Exitos Award for ''Éxtasis'' * Selected for the 1994 National Dramaturgy Show with ''La gorda'' * 1995 Award for best editing, best direction, and best playwright for ''Río abajo'' * Fellowship from the Andes Foundation for ''in situ'' research and writing of ''Sebastopol'', on the abandoned saltpeter towns in northern Chile, 1996 * 1997
Santiago Municipal Literature Award The Santiago Municipal Literature Award () is one of the oldest and most important literary awards in Chile Created in 1934 by the municipality of Santiago, its first edition awarded the categories of novel, poetry and theater (later to be renamed ...
for ''Río abajo'' * ''Cinema-Utoppia'' selected in 1998 by La Loggia, Florence as one of the best works of the decade * 1999 Loth Award (Cairo International Theater Festival) – honored for his contribution to contemporary theater * 2000 APES Award for best editing for ''Cinema-Utoppia'' * 2000
Altazor Award The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...
for ''Cinema-Utoppia'' * 2004 APES Award for best director and best playwright for ''Tus deseos en fragmentos''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffero, Ramon 1954 births 20th-century Chilean dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Chilean dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the University of Essex Chilean male dramatists and playwrights Chilean people of Italian descent Chilean theatre directors Living people Université catholique de Louvain alumni Academic staff of the University of Chile Writers from Santiago, Chile University of Chile alumni