An invite to a wake – and a wake-up call for audiences

Friend of this newspaper Irene Bianchi will once again tread the boards this Saturday as she performs a one-woman show at the Teatro Border in Buenos Aires.

Bianchi, a writer and teacher, will perform Te invito a mi velorio (“I invite you to my wake”), starring as the lead character Violeta, a woman of almost 70 years of age who, as the actor put it, has recently “kicked the bucket.”

Throughout the show, Violeta shares with the audience her reflections of her new ‘situation’ and the limbo in which she finds herself. The humour comes as she begins to comment on those attending the wake she meticulously prepared prior to her passing. As one would expect, the character has plenty to say about her ex-husband, siblings, children, colleagues, neighbours.

Despite the title, the show – created by Silvia Tizio – promises to be anything but funereal. Full of laughs, Violeta is not sad about her passing but, in fact, rather curious about what comes next.

The show “is a light-hearted look at a taboo subject,” explained Bianchi in a press release.

“The tone of the comedy is light, but not superficial. There is laughter, tears and a lot of material left to think about,” she added.

Violeta takes the audience into her past, reflecting on unfinished business and the things she always wanted to do but didn’t get around to – serving as a wake-up call to the audience.

“Death is an unavoidable certainty, even if we pretend to be distracted and don’t want to recognise that sooner or later it will be our turn,” reflected Bianchi.

This incarnation of Te invito a mi velorio is directed by Mariana Ozafrain, with set design from Lucía Verderosa and costumes by Pau Verderosa. For details, see below.