Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!
Teatrocinema’s Rosa: An Interview on Art, Memory, and the Power of Women
Versión en español aquí
Teatrocinema is a Chilean live art and theater group known for its magical imagery and unique approach to storytelling. As world-class artists, they have had the opportunity to travel to countries such as China, Spain, Germany, and several others. Prior to their U.S. debut with Rosa—a multimedia experience about the life of the fictional actress Rosa—I had the opportunity to interview, via email, Montserrat Antileo Antequerra, multimedia director, screenwriter, and editor of Teatrocinema.
Rian Dennis [RD]: In the play, the character of Rosa embodies an aging actress who reflects on meaningful moments in her life and career—marked by love and political turmoil in Chile—while remaining frozen in time. Was there a particular person who inspired this story? And why is it important to tell it now?
Montserrat Antileo Antequerra [MAA]: The story of Rosa is born from many women. It is the accumulated echo of actresses, mothers, creators, and women of art and life who have left their bodies, memories, and voices on stage and in Chile’s recent history. Rosa is, at the same time, the synthesis of those women whom political upheaval, the passage of time, or loneliness tried to relegate to silence, but who resist disappearing. The character is inspired by the experience of women who have sustained the theatrical craft with courage and sensitivity, and whose humanity—with all its doubts, humor, fragility, and strength—resonates in every gesture of Laura Pizarro, the actress who performs this monologue with profound mastery.
[MAA]: Telling it today is urgent. Feminine memory—in politics, in art, in bodies, and in emotions—continues, at times, to be undervalued or rendered invisible. Rosa reminds us that history does not move forward without the strength of women—not during the military dictatorship of the 1970s, nor during the social uprisings, nor in the silences of the pandemic. In a country where memory has been fragmented, Rosa stops time to look directly at what has marked us: collective dreams, defeats, utopias, love, and resilience. Its importance today lies in restoring humanity to what seemed buried by the whirlwind, reminding us that no life—and least of all that of a creative woman—ever truly disappears as long as there are words, images, and light to sustain it.
[RD]: What makes the style of visual arts and live theater so effective for telling stories like Rosa?
[MAA]: Because the stage becomes a living canvas. In Rosa, painting is language; each brushstroke carries emotion, tremor, anger, tenderness, memory. Where realism stops, painting opens cracks through which multiple interpretations, sensations, and meanings can emerge. The visual approach seeks to distance itself from realism. The painted image vibrates like an unfinished, fragmented, symbolic memory—inviting the viewer to complete, translate, and discover.
The painting breathes alongside the actress’s body, who inhabits these spaces like a chameleon—sometimes blending in, and other times stepping away to become an active observer of her own memories. Thus, the audience travels through scenes where the intimate, the dreamlike, the profound, and the symbolic intertwine. The image appears and disappears, revealing unexpected, beautiful, and surprising areas, expanding the monologue into subtle, sensitive, and surreal territories.
[RD]: Why do you consider Nashville the right place for Rosa’s U.S. premiere?
[MAA]: It is the first time Rosa is being presented outside of Chile, and that moves us between curiosity and deep emotion. We are excited by the possibility of discovering how it will resonate with a different audience—with another culture, another language, and other memories. We are interested in seeing what happens emotionally—what images linger, what questions it awakens, and what echoes remain after the performance.
Rosa is a 21st-century work, where live theater, animation, music, and visual arts merge to create a sensory language that goes beyond words. That is why coming to Nashville means opening the experience to new perspectives and new interpretations. We know the work engages with universal themes—memory, identity, the passage of time—but the encounter with the American audience is a new and fertile territory. It will be a conversation that is just beginning…
[RD]: I was surprised to learn that Teatrocinema is made up of only nine core members. How does working in such a compact and close-knit group influence your creative process and performances?
[MAA]: Working in a small group means that each person is essential. We know each other deeply, and that closeness creates a shared language that is already part of Teatrocinema’s DNA. Each work is born from constant listening—the ego steps aside, and what guides us is the creation itself, which asks, discards, and reveals the path. We call it “the evidence of action.” We are a multidisciplinary team; each member contributes from their specialty and often takes on more than one role. That allows us to care for every artistic and technical detail. We seek beauty, precision, and a shared horizon.
[RD]: The group was originally formed as La Troppa in the 1980s and reformed as Teatrocinema in 2005. In these twenty years of existence, with success in various parts of the world, how has presenting such intimate works to diverse audiences helped expand your original creative interests and curiosities?
[MAA]: Presenting our creations to such diverse audiences has shown us that emotion is a universal language. Even though each country has its own culture, there are human experiences we all recognize—memory, love, fragility, humor, loss. This dialogue with other audiences broadens our perspective, helping us grow as creators and as human beings. Each journey gives body to our creations. The audience discovers meanings and interpretations that we do not always see, and that feedback enriches our creative search. Showing our intimacy on distant stages is an act of trust, and when the audience receives it, the work grows, expands, and remains alive.
A woman who carries years of stories, silences, struggles, and beauty. Every element—costume, color, texture—is conceived as an extension of her memory. We were inspired by women who are born on stage, by painted portraits, by imagined worlds, by a hummingbird whose fragility coexists with immense strength. In Rosa, there is something everyday, recognizable, but also subtly symbolic. Her figure can transcend time—being young, adult, and elderly in a single gesture. Lighting, painting, animation, and music allow her to multiply and move freely within her mind and spirit.
The character was designed so that the audience does not just see a woman, but an entire life contained within a body. Rosa’s image is intimate, dignified, and profoundly human.
[RD]: Be sure to catch a performance of Rosa at OZ Arts on November 12th and 13th!
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Rian Dennis is a recent BA in Music and Spanish graduate from MTSU. He enjoys listening to music and watching movies, in his free time, and also has an interest in fashion. He is excited to document contemporary art and music history for the Music City Review!
