We interviewed actress Paulina Hunt, a Chilean playwright and teacher of theatre and television, about the new play she is about to present. Here we transcribe the full conversation:

Pressenza: You are about to premiere a new play of your creation, how did it come about, inspired by what?

Paulina Hunt: Yes, indeed, we are very focused and excited about this premiere. This is a joint creation with Juan Víctor Muñoz, with whom we have been working for some years. The impulse was born out of an enormous need for both of us to create in the current context, with the feeling of having many things to share and reflect on with others. And of course, our medium is theatre, that’s how we think, imagine and share.

This play is inspired by failure. In our failure, and in that enormous void that arises afterward, if you allow yourself to live it, this existential comedy appears Crisis, Apology of an Awakening. A woman who falls into a crisis and does not know how to go on – the story may sound familiar! Tenderness, humor, creativity, and the hope of new paradigms appear there, breaking away from fears and pessimism. And in this existential journey, she will play, deciding her destiny step by step, for more than an hour in the present time, in complicity with the audience.

Pressenza: What was the creative process behind the play?

Paulina Hunt: After that inspiration, we locked ourselves away for three months to write the text, with a very fresh methodology, as we launched a theme, and an image, and based on that an improvisation with acting, music, and elements, arose. Then we write, write, polish, and erase. Erasing, especially erasing. To finally arrive at a text, read it over and over again until we arrive at something more or less definitive, which we finish writing on stage. With the script in hand, the editing and the formation of the work team begin. The producer is Paola Lara, the musician Víctor González, Anahí Saá in graphic art, Marcela Paz Silva as advisor in singing and choreography, and Daniela Portillo in the integral scenic design.

And like any theatrical process, hours of rehearsal. A lot of work. Months. Weeks. Days. To give birth, as our director says: this is a birth.

The interesting thing about our process is that we try to make the journey that the play will be, we also try to make it. So, it has meant a lot of learning for us theatrically and also personally. It has been very inspiring.

Pressenza: Why is it a one-person play?

Paulina Hunt: I could tell you a thousand things, but the truth is that it just came to me…(laughs). At some point in my creative process, I called myself a “personage” because in reality something that defines me as an artist is the characters I create. And that’s how they come out, they are creative impulses that arise from a need to express emotions, ideas, things… to share with others. And of course, the need to share in some people comes from conversation, politics, and literature, in short… in my case, it’s the characters that speak for me. And apparently, they need their space of “scenic solitude” to express themselves fully. I would love it if some scholars of these phenomena could shed some light on why the processes take place in one way or another.

Pressenza: When you became aware of the crisis that we are all in, that the world is in, didn’t you become more depressed, how did it affect you to go deeper into these issues?

Paulina Hunt: The truth is that the word depression is far from my vocabulary. Setting a creative process in motion is the least depressing thing there is, as it puts you in the “construction” mode of a work and in conjunction with others. That human experience is the most vital and energetic thing there is. At least for me, this holds a great mystery, which has to do with the sense of the human. I will indulge in a little existential philosophical reflection. My formation in these matters leads me to understand that what is important is the answer I give to a problem, rather than the problem itself. In this case our answer as people who inhabit this crisis with all its consequences: disillusionment, fear, uncertainty, rottenness, extreme violence, deterioration of relationships, etc… phew! I’m getting depressed. No! Bullshit. Well, this is what the play is about. These processes, these vicissitudes affect us all.

Pressenza: How did you find the way out, for yourself, and what do you will be proposing to the audience?

Paulina Hunt: The first thing we will be proposing is that we meet in the theatre! Let’s talk, let’s look at each other, let’s share our life experiences. This play is in the present tense, that is, it happens there at that moment with the people who are there that day. It is not a play that is repeated every time in the same way. It has a script, but it happens in that space and with the audience present. So, the first proposal is that: LET’S MET-US.

Then we can share what opens up the future for us, which is to get going with what gives us meaning and passion. Of course, with the perspective of enriching ourselves and the lives of those around us. We put ourselves on stage, that is to say in the common space, where we can share; there we put our reflections, doubts, and emotions. We are not alone. We are traveling in the same boat. Let’s look at each other. And let’s laugh. Let’s laugh a lot.

Pressenza: So, it’s a transferential play, inspired a bit by the tradition of Greek theatre?

Paulina Hunt: It’s a play that seeks to make a transference, from a state of crisis that paralyzes you to a crisis that allows you to grow and move forward. It is a transference from a state of externality to a state of profundity. It is a transference from a serious attitude to a ludic attitude, and there is a big surprise in this work! Which I cannot reveal for obvious reasons. The transition to “The Great Game” is the heart of this comedy.

And in your reference to Greek theatre, in this case, it is closer to Greek comedy of which very little is known. It was relegated to the pride of tragedy. There, in the 5th century B.C., Aristophanes created some very interesting plays, because, through humor and extreme situations, he made some very revolutionary proposals for his time. He was a visionary of nonviolence and of the force of the feminine. His culminating work is “Lysistrata”, in short, there is much to talk about these inspired creations. But in all honesty, we are closer to Cantinflas than to the pro-Greek men.

Pressenza: When and where are you presenting it in January 2024? How do you get tickets?

Paulina Hunt: The premiere is on the 19th of January and we will have performances until the 28th of January. Fridays and Saturdays 20.30 hrs / Sundays 19.00 hrs. At Teatro Camino. Located in Antupirén 9400. Peñalolén Ecological Community. Tickets are on pre-sale on the website

Pressenza: Thank you very much Paulina and, of course, congratulations on this new play. We will certainly be present at some of your performances!