First Impressions
The protégé in Theatre talks about the start of the mentoring year. Interviewed by George Hunka in New York in August 2008.
What interested you most about participating in the Rolex Arts Initiative?
Biscayart: I’d never heard of the Arts Initiative before I was nominated, but when I did some research I discovered that the very first Rolex protégé in theatre, Federico León [2002-2003, with mentor Robert Wilson], was from Argentina. Everything I learned was really surprising, and I became excited about the opportunities that the initiative might give me. And I’ve always wanted to travel, so this was the perfect gift.
Have you ever had a mentor before?
No. I’d never thought of having a mentor before, but having a mentor is a very personal and intimate experience, so it’ll be a very unique learning experience for me.
What do you hope to get out of this collaboration?
It’s very hard to say, because I concentrate more on the present moment than on the future.
Speaking of the “present moment”, what are your first impressions of your mentor, Kate Valk?
I was very happy to meet Kate Valk; she’s a great person. When I got to The Performing Garage [in New York, where the Group devises its productions], I found that what The Wooster Group did was very creative, and I very much identified with the way they worked. I’d heard about them, of course, but I’d never seen any of their productions.
I’m really enjoying the day-by-day work with Kate. We’re already working quite a bit with small things, physical gestures and things like that. She has a big book of photocopies of gestures that baroque opera singers used, and we’ve been re-enacting them, sometimes separately, sometimes at the same time. [The Wooster Group’s production of La Didone, the 1641 opera by Francesco Cavalli, will open in New York in March 2009, following its premiere at the 2007 Edinburgh International Festival.] Kate’s even teaching me her parts! It’s a very creative and very enjoyable way to approach theatrical performance.
We’re seeing each other almost every day. Tomorrow we’re going to see an opera together, so it’s been a very close working experience so far. And now The Wooster Group has just begun gearing up for two productions this season.
How do you think your work is similar to or different from your mentor’s? Or do you see any links between your mentor’s work and yours?
In the productions in which I appeared in Argentina before my mentorship, we didn’t have all the technology Kate and the Group have. Here you have the resources to do whatever you want to do, and I was excited to think about using technology as one of the ways to “write” theatrical pieces.
Do you think that your mentor’s guidance will change your approach to your work?
Thanks to Kate, I’m already thinking about new tools with which to approach my performance work – the cameras and the attention to gesture. And I’m really looking forward to working more with Kate and the Group as they begin their production work in September.