The play tells the story of the last days of a colonel waiting for his pension. He lives in poverty and the only connection he has with the outside world is his routine visits to the post office every Friday. He also waits for the cockfights, where the rooster of his deceased son is supposed to compete.
This theatrical adaptation of the Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella was created by his friend, director Jorge Ali Triana. The main role was played by Colombian theatre and film actor Herman Jaramillo.
Herman Jaramillo, theatre and film actor, said:
«The novella „No One Writes to the Colonel“ is inspired by the longest civil war in Colombia. It was at the beginning of the last century. Marquez’s grandfather died in this civil war. There isn’t a single Colombian who wasn’t touched by its cruelty back then… We return to these events after time because it is pain, a tragedy that still lives within us. Marquez’s work speaks about how we still haven’t found peace. The rooster in the play is a deep, rich metaphor, an image of the main character’s deceased son. For me, it is a metaphor for the potential rebirth of my country, both economically and politically. I hope that one day I will see peace in Colombia. That is why this play is so important to me.»
Two performances of «No One Writes to the Colonel» were held at the Platonov Arts Festival as part of the Regional Programme of the Chekhov International Theatre Festival.
The photo is here