OUR DIRTY WAR

Wednesday, January 22nd at 7pm

Camila Madero - Playwright / Actress
Emilia Lirman - Director

OUR DIRTY WAR is a love story, an intimate exploration of the playwright's relationship with her father, Roberto, who was forced to escape the horrors of Argentina's brutal dictatorship in 1976 at the ripe age of 16. This grim chapter in the country’s history saw thousands of young political activists disappear, as the government covertly kidnapped, tortured, and murdered anyone who contradicted their right-wing ideals. Roberto, who still bears the psychological scars of exile and loss, hides the truth of his life story behind walls of silence that Camila must knock down to understand him and her own identity. Yet, whenever Camila tries to do so, it is to no avail. Frustrated by her father’s silence and scared of losing him forever, she conceives of another plan: to wake her father up inside the confines of her mind-- a magical scape laced with fantastical oddities and possibility. As Camila meets the eccentric characters from Roberto’s past and accompanies him on the wild adventures of his youth, she gains a rich sense of who her father once was—- that is, until a series of unexpected obstacles puts their love to the test and truth in the spotlight.

The piece, inspired by a series of real-life recorded interviews between Camila and Roberto, ultimately examines identity and generational trauma to ask if it is truly possible to escape the past----let alone heal from it? What makes this play so special is it tackles this question in a viscerally intimate way, as the playwright takes on the role of her father while another actress plays her. In doing so, the piece does not only engage with political justice on a textual level, but also cultivates experimental empathy across generations.