Theater has that unique ability to project us forward to force us to look at the present. Upon entering the Boedo XXI Theater Space to see «And today is his birthday»one not only travels to the Buenos Aires of 2128; It addresses a question that has always haunted us: At what point do we let the system steal from us what makes us human?
Dehumanization and loneliness
The work introduces us to Alfredo (Juan Pensado) on the day of his seventieth anniversary. But in this dystopian future, birthdays are not a celebration, but rather the beginning of a countdown imposed by the «National Organization.»
The setting precisely builds a isolation atmosphere: An artificial intelligence sets the pace of the days with automatic news, empty greetings and a routine that makes even a birthday unbearable. The result is a disturbing portrait of a society where productivity defines the right to exist, and where reaching old age can be an act of resistance… or a bureaucratic procedure towards oblivion.
The tension explodes with the arrival of the government agent Yamilda (Maina Zayas). She is not just a insensitive official; is the perfect product of an indoctrination that has annulled their subjectivityimposing hate speech under the mandate of being a ‘good citizen‘.
However, that block of coldness begins to crack. Constantly questioned by Alfredothe agent suffers breaks. In those moments, the rigidity breaks: tears appear, fissures appear, an identity that was crushed but not completely extinguished appears. There the real conflict is revealed: someone who executes an inhuman law while, inside, he fights to recover what he is.
The fracture of the bond: The hug as resistance
In a world where power intrudes even into the most intimate ties, Alfredo proposes a minimal and radical gesture: a hug.
There the work finds its highest point. In that contact, as simple as it is subversive, the possibility of recovering identity through affection appears.. A gesture that challenges a metropolis that has decided that feeling is a failure of the system.
A shock that is not legal, but emotional: On the one hand, the official operates under a delegated will: she does not act out of her own conviction, but rather as the executing arm of a power that has colonized her subjectivity. Its effectiveness lies in the ability to disguise the cruelty of the State with impeccable administrative language, transforming a death sentence into a simple protocol of «responsible citizenship«.
Against this machinery, Alfredo opposes the only trench he has left: memory. Their resistance is not political in the traditional sense, but deeply human.
His request for forgiveness is not a sign of weakness, but an act of lucidity: he understands that the only way to disarm the machine is by appealing to what still beats beneath the uniform.
The hug that Alfredo asks for is not just a gesture; It is the last reserve of humanity in the face of a society that has completely cooled down. Because when a hug appears, it creates its own space, a place where the State no longer has the authority to intervene.
The mirror with today:
The parallelism with current Argentina is inevitable. The fragility of the elderly care system and the loss of purchasing power They resonate strongly in the work.
Without futuristic decrees, reality already poses concrete forms of abandonment that affect the most vulnerable sectors.
The work bluntly questions: In a system that prioritizes profitability, poverty can become an early sentence. Social apathy operates as an invisible exclusion mechanism.
“And today is his birthday” does not seek to predict the future: it seeks to dissect the present.
And leaves a clear warning: that dystopian 2128 has already begun.
Technical Sheet
- Dramaturgy: Omar Tricarico
- Address: Gabriel Los Santos
- List: Juan Pensado y Maina Zayas
- You off: Claudia Tassano y Esteban Echeverria
- Original music: Omar Tricarico
- Art design: Luciana Gonzalez
- Scenographic realization: Juan Pensado
- Sound design: Leon Useglio
- Sound operation: Gracey Ochoa
- Lightning: The Benegas case
- Steering assistance: Andrea Pensado
- Social networks: Andrea Stiegwardt y Claudia Tassano
- Production: Los Santos Films
The work is presented in the Theater: Boedo XXI (Av. Boedo 853, CABA).
Entries: Available through Alternativa Teatral or at the theater box office.
