Argentine critic Daniel Link famously noted that the Argentines who migrated to Paris in the 1960s were fortunate not to find there what they sought (avant-garde, countercultural communities, parties) but a perfect setting to become unrecognizable to themselves – independently of the great public recognition many of them garnered. Rather than emulate the paths of previous Argentine Francophiles, they forged new identities, breaking free from rigid labels and classifications. Those same lines of flight, through the Parisian heterotopias, might have led them into a complex web of alliances, extending even beyond the human realm.
As its title anticipates, Boselli's book leverages ANT (actor-network theory) to navigate the rhizomatic network of Argentine theatre luminaries in the City of Light from the 1960s to the 1990s. Through meticulous research spanning France and Argentina, Boselli unveils the intricate associations among playwrights, directors and performers, encompassing a diverse array of agents – from designers to large cultural phenomena, as well as illnesses, wine and neighbourhoods. Chapters explore Jerome Savary and his Grand Magic Circus, Alfredo Arias and his group TSE, and the receptiveness of the Parisian cultural milieu to Argentine creators. Copi (nom de plume of writer, actor and cartoonist Raúl Damonte Botana) functions as a key node in this network, linking different circles and theatrical productions. But aside from shedding new light on Copi, Actor-Network Dramaturgies: The Argentines of Paris is perhaps the most comprehensive study to date about Savary and TSE.
A chapter dedicated to Savary and Copi retraces the series of lineages, events and substances interwoven in their theatrical collaborations. Boselli delineates the evolution of Savary's baroque and festive performances, which initially contrasted with Copi's aversion to improvisation. But the dynamics of friendship and certain alcoholic beverages played their part, eventually, in allowing this creative pair to collaborate on the opera-tango Good Bye, Mister Freud in 1974.
Alfredo Rodríguez Arias's highly stylized theatre, à la page with New York City (NYC) minimalist choreographies of Chris Cunningham, emerged among papier mâché sculptures and pop artworks by Marta Minujín in the Argentine 1960s. TSE's arty flower power thrived amid the Di Tella Visual Arts Center, epicentre of Buenos Aires avant-garde, first, and was welcomed by star gallery owners of NYC soon after, until a couple of socks stolen by troupe members and hostile US immigration officials forced them to seek new directions. Once in Paris, they staged Copi's Eva Perón in 1970, with actor Facundo Bo in drag performing Evita, which sparked the fury of young conservatives who vandalized the theatre in one of many complex interactions of these Argentines of Paris with the turmoil of their home country's politics at the time. In Boselli's account, however, Alfredo Arias and Argentine dictators played as big a role as Bo's Alzheimer's or Copi's HIV.
Another chapter focuses on director Jorge Lavelli and his collaborations with Arias, Copi and Witold Gombrowicz, as well as with non-human performers. The appointments of Arias and Lavelli as heads of theatres in France are clear examples of a policy of decentralization of a more open-to-diversity France in the 1980s, where Argentines found a place. In this complex interplay of agents and factors, one may wonder whether these creators’ whiteness might have also played a significant role in French cultural institutions’ openness to certain – and certainly not all – others.
Boselli seamlessly transitions from artistic (voluntary) decisions to the material conditions of production, weaving in the influence of non-human agents that often go unnoticed. At times, readers may yearn for further exploration of these elements, contemplating, for example, how Copi's plays, full of animals and strange creatures, might have been influenced by his first audience as a child, consisting of family dogs, a parrot, and even bear cubs. Boselli himself warns us about the difficulty of selecting what to include in a study that engages with seemingly endless interconnections, and challenges usual conventions about who are thought to play central roles in our critical narratives. The drift through actors and materials could be extended even further and reach Paloma Picasso, Marguerite Duras or Yves Saint Laurent, all of whom became closely involved with many of these Argentines of Paris, but these could form part of another equally daring critical account.
The book serves as a bold experiment in applying ANT, inviting readers to engage with theatre – and the world – in a novel light, showcasing the productivity of this critical approach.
