Based on true events, Open Fire follows one woman’s return to the place of her mother’s murder, and the subsequent journey through blood memory she must take to get there. This story reflects on the lived experiences of survivors of political violence, specifically focusing on the children of the parents persecuted and disappeared for their political beliefs. The children of the disappeared grew up never knowing whether their parents were indeed dead, where their unmarked graves were, or whether they may still be alive somewhere suffering in silence.
25min trio with live narration
“This is where the earth swallowed my mother whole”, she said out loud to those who’d accompanied her, secretly hoping that the passing nun would hear and stop to offer solace, perhaps a prayer. “This is where my mother disappeared”, she clarified.” – Open Fire, Carmen Aguirre
In the 1970s, thousands of Argentinian revolutionaries were disappeared by the dictatorship’s government forces that carried out acts of kidnapping and murder. Based on true events, Open Fire follows one woman’s return to the place of her mother’s murder in a Buenos Aires barrio and the subsequent journey through blood memory she must take to get there. How does the mind hold such memories in its countless folds, only to release them years later at the scene of the crime? Open Fire asks whether we can ever reconcile the past and move forward out of the solitary confinement of trauma.
This project was commissioned by The Dance Centre and The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts for the 2016 Beyond Words program, “Words in Motion” as an artistic collaboration with celebrated Chilean author, Carmen Aguirre and Indigenous choreographer, Olivia C. Davies, to the depict the short story of the same name that exposes the inter-generational trauma experienced by family members of disappeared political revolutionaries.
Olivia C. Davies / concept, choreography, performing as Adult Daughter
Carmen Aguirre / original story, performing as Storyteller
Alejandra Cabellero / performing as Young Daughter
Sindy Angel / performing as Mother and Sister
Sky Shaver / original sound design
James Proudfoot / original lighting design
Julia Carr / rehearsal direction
Emily Neuman / technical stage manager
Previous Shows:
Premiere: Beyond Words, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, March 18 2016
Dancing on the Edge Festival Firehall Arts Centre, July 2016
Reviews:
Open Fire unites page and stage for Dance Centre series, The Georgia Straight, March 2016.
About Carmen Aguirre:
Carmen Aguirre is a Vancouver-based theatre artist and author. She has written and co-written twenty five plays, including Blue Box, The Trigger and The Refugee Hotel, and has eighty film, television and stage acting credits. Her second memoir Mexican Hooker #1 and My Other Roles Since the Revolution was published this spring to outstanding reviews in Canada and the United Kingdom, and is a Canadian bestseller. Her first book, the critically-acclaimed Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter won CBC Canada Reads 2012 and is a #1 national bestseller. Carmen is currently working on three new plays, Anywhere But Here, Broken Tailbone, and The Trial of Tina Modotti. Her short story Open Fire was featured as part of The Chan Centre’s Words In Motion in March 2016, and her short story Our Lady of San Juan River is in the current issue of Room Magazine. Carmen is the recipient of the Hispanic Business Alliance’s 2014 Ten Most Influential Hispanics in Canada Award, Latincouver’s 2014 Most Inspirational Latin Award, a 2014 Betty Mitchell outstanding acting award for her work in Alberta Theatre Projects’ The Motherfucker with The Hat, the 2012 Langara College Outstanding Alumna Award, the 2011 Union of B.C. Performers’ Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award and the 2002 New Play Centre Award for Best New Play for The Refugee Hotel. Carmen is a graduate of Studio 58.