The possibility of tendernessLa posibilidad de la ternura

​Seven Chilean teenage boys feel powerless in the face of adults' world views and decide to resist. They distance themselves from the expectation that men should be strong and aggressive, and on stage they present their own vision of what it means to be a man.

The youths ask themselves: What is preventing us from showing tenderness and expressing our own need for closeness? What happens if we don't meet the demands placed on us? What is stopping us from showing our own vulnerability?

In the Chilean play The possibility of tenderness (La posibilidad de la ternura), the young men share their experiences. The performance is the result of workshops with youths aged 13–17, auditions, and a collaborative creative process. Together, the boys on stage construct their own masculinity, confront the fear of being ostracised, and open up to supporting each other.

The Chilean company consists of performing artists from different generations who are dedicated to breaking away from established thought patterns.

Photo: Teatre Escalante

Recommended age

14+

Language

​Performed in Spanish, titled in English.

Contributors

• ​Marco Layera, Carolina de La Maza direction

• Cast collective dramaturgy

• Aljoscha Begrich playwright

• Tomas O´Ryan skeleton realization

• Katherine Maureira, Humberto Adriano assistant directors

• Ernesto Orellana artist collaborator

• Victoria Iglesias production

• Andrés Quezada sound design

• Karl Heinz Sateler lighting design

• Teatro La Re-Sentida scenography

• Daniel Bagnara costume design

• Eugenio Pino tailor

• Andrés Quezada sound design
  

• Leftrarü Valdivia Castro, Camilo Bugueño Espejo, Efraín Chaparro Pérez, José Miguel Araya Moreno, Dimitri Bueno Ferrer, Marcos Cruz Andulce, Matías Mendez González cast

Produced by

​GAM, Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral and Ruhrtriennale Festival in co-production with Munchner Kammerspiele