Theatre Review: El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba Is A Must- Watch
El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba was Garbriel Garcia Marquez’s favorite writing. He, literally, wrote 100 Years of Solitude so that someone would look at El Coronel. It is a sweet irony considering the story is of a noble, ex-army vet that is being financially ignored by his government. El Repertorio Español has concerted this classic tale into a play that proves why it had Marquez’s favor.
Directed and adapted by Jorge Ali Triana and Veronica Triana, El Coronel shows the beauty of simplicity. The show is 75 minutes of watching German Caramillo as (El Coronel) trying to figure out how to provide for his asthmatic wife (Zulema Clares) and what to do with the “gallo” his dead son left behind. It may see humorous, What to do with my dead son’s rooster?, and the question certainly leads to a few, good laughs. Yet, it is a question the pulses with under-currents of social failings. For El Coronel, this rooster was his son’s last material possession, of which they are so poor it is challenge to own anything, even their son, Arturo’s memory
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Arturo was a young man murdered by police officers for giving anti-government papers out at a cockfight. This is a major blow to his parents for multiple reasons: he was their only child, he was brutally and suddenly killed, and when you are poor the only joys you have are few and based in the ones you love. Raul Abrego has created a moving set of fences that turns El Coronel and his wife’s home into a prison of continuing loss. From selling furniture so that they can buy one bag of beans to eat for a week to feeling like their poverty caused their son’s loss, El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba is deeply impactful. Finally, a play has premiered to show to difficulties of keeping your heart when you can barely keep a dime.
El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba has an exceptional cast that surround Caramillo’s Coronel like planets orbiting the sun. Clares churns The Wife’s rightful desperation for financial stability in every move, yet balances her with sparkling wit and understanding for her sadness. Luis Carlos De La Lombona as El Medico is a total charm, and contrasts Mario Mattei’s gregariously wicked Don Sabas as someone who wants to help the needy rather than dupe them out of the little they have. It is funny how. when you have everything, access is undeniable, but when you have so little it is unreachable. It should be the opposite: when you have less you get access to more because you need it. Here lies the universal sadness of El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba.
It seems that Life, when you are down, decides to kick you more. The strong of this world are the ones that hold their hope, no matter what, in that life will turn its kicks into helping hands. El Coronel never stops saying “paciencia” or “God Will Provide!”, which reminded me so much of my family’s elders and how their faith pushed us through the hardest times. In life, suffering is as temporary as joy, but it can feel like an eternity when you are in it. El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba shows you that if your suffering is for long then make your laughs and loves even longer. Don’t give up your pleasure to live just because you cannot afford all the pleasures of life. El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba plays until May 12, and includes English Translations. It is located at Repertorio Español: 138 East 27th St, New York, NY 10016.
