Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Spotlight On...Bautista Duarte

Name: Bautista Duarte

Hometown: La Plata, Argentina

Education: Atlantic Acting School Conservatory Program. Stella Adler Studio, Lecoq Technique at the Movement Theater Studio. Law Degree from the National University of La Plata and a Masters in International Development from Duke University.

Select Credits: Most recently appeared in the original production of Re:Late/Able by the Coyote Collective. Recent film credits include "Five" (RiccaFilm) and "Tu.Yo…" (Imperator Pictures).

Why theater?: I have always been drawn by the enormous courage involved in acting, which basically implies exposing your vulnerable self to a lots of people you have never seen in your life. The immediacy of the theater forces that courage – and with it your inner fears – to grow bigger. But the amazing thing about theater is that you, as an actor, are never alone. It is communion between the actors and the audience that allows a story not just to be told, but also to be lived. As (Jerzy) Grotowski used to say, you can have a theater with no set, no special lights arrangements, no costumes, no props, but what a theater can never miss is the actors and the audience. And that short magical marriage between the actors and the audience is the answer to your question.    

Who do you play in ReLateAble?: Jon, a single gay guy in his mid-thirties who is tired of not being able to find love so he designs a “method” to find his future husband to be.  

Tell us about ReLateAble: ReLateAble takes place over the course of one night, with four characters realizing that the information age may have just come to an abrupt, unexplained end. Jon is looking for his future husband-to-be, Fran is reaching out to her long lost friend (Ann) with cocktails of dubious quality, Paul has a very mysterious but important conference he must attend and Ann is wallowing over a lost past. As they struggle to reach each other, they all find themselves asking: what is the cost of connection?

What is it like being a part of ReLateAble?: This has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. I was part of the creative team that conceived ReLateAble, so I have been involved, not only as an actor, from the very beginning of this process including its conception, first production (February 2015) and now at the Fringe. ReLateAble is my (and many others) baby and to be able to bring it to the New York International Fringe Festival is a dream came true.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: That’s a tough one. I think different aspects of different kind of theaters speak to me one way or another. From the works of Sophocles and Euripides to Ionesco’s theater of the absurd to Becket’s view of human nature and up until contemporary young playwrights including Samuel D. Hunter and Anie Baker. One of my favorite contemporary playwrights is Rafael Spregelburd from Argentina. As an artist I am inspired by the way others have conceived and taken forward their own visions of what theater is about. This includes a wide and diverse range of people such as Augusto Boal and his theater of the oppressed, Grotowski’s poor theater and Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki’s attempts to redefine contemporary theater in the US with a focus on international cultural exchange.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Orin Scrivello, the sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors and, later in my career, Roy Cohn in Angels in America and George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?

What’s your favorite showtune?: Anything by Cole Porter…if I had to choose I’d choose “Anything Goes” (along with its tap routine) and “It’s De-Lovely”.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Al Pacino, Nathan Lane, Tracy Letts and Helen Mirren.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Paul Rudd and it the title of the movie would be “How to be happy and not die in the attempt”.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Spring Awakening!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Disgraced and Hand to God.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Anything with dulce de leche.

What’s up next?: We are already working on our next original show, which we expect will premiere this winter in NYC.

For more on ReLateAble, visit https://coyotetheatercollective.squarespace.com/relateable or https://www.facebook.com/coyotetheatercollective