ANGELITOS EMPANTANADOS

-Little bogged-down angels-

(STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE)

By Andrés Caicedo

Premier: May 30 of 1995 Actors: Julian Henao - Nadia Silva - Ángela María Muñoz - Lina Castaño - Diego Sánchez - Edwin García - María Isabel García. Wardrobe, stage, lighting and dramatic arts: Matacandelas Sound Operation and designe By: Oscar Castañeda - John Fernando Ospina. Light Operation: Cristóbal Peláez  Scenic Direction:  Cristóbal Peláez Gender: Drama Space: Closed 8m Width by 8m depht by 4m heigh Duration: one hour thirty minutes Time to set up: eight hours Time to dismount: one hour

The novel ANGELITOS EMPANTANADOS (Little bogged-down angels) is made up of three extense monologues: “ The Suiter", "Angelita and Miguel Angel" and "The Time of The Marsh", monologues that shape the story of two young students, Angelita Rodante and Miguel Angel Valderrama, both of them belonged to the Cali’s high society at the end of the 60’s.

Two good kids with great economic solvency, who even have the luxury to dwell in homes wich are watched over by the police, and neither have any extraordinary conflicts nor are threatened by any external force.

It´s a story of young people without story, like so many others burguess youngsters, that go through their days bored going to class, go to parties or to their friends’ country houses during the weekends. They are, just as the author describes them, youngsters whose ambitions at the age of 15, was to complete a serie: swim, roller skate, drive cars and go horse back ridding.

The love between Angelita and Miguel Angel do not have any other particularity that can be destinguished from the ordinary. It´s a vulgar love, almost child like, where the words game is present and the students games barely blunt, slightly with the first sexual flattery.

Nevertheless, their own privileges make up their drama. Family love is replaced by police custody. Wealth does not exonerate Angelita Rodante of a dificult family situation: a stupid brother, a drunk father and a frustrated mother.

A young mother wallowed in a unknown grief, that never gets out of the bed, hides from the sun and lives longing a glorious past. That is Miguel Angel Valderrama situation.

THE LANDSCAPE IS, OF DEATH.

The Cali river’s death, the end of  a habitable city, the death of 65 young guys with the flood tide of the river during a trumpet solo in the latin grill; the disappearance of Solano Patiño who seemed to be hit by a truck; the death of Raimundo the first guy  to ever kiss Angelita, whose mouth smelled like apples, died when his gold watch was stolen; the sweet Irma, who was dead but at the same time living, the death of Antonio Rodante (cowface) the thick lip, brother of Angelita found dead under his bed with pilled dry leaves and always scared of Baron Jimenez, a liberal who came back from the grave to take revenge on the conservatives; the Suiter, a living dead, a romantic in love of Angelita that goes through the torture of hell  out of spite; the disappearance of Berenice, that prostitute that comes out from Poe’s pages and teaches Miguel Angel the delights of the flesh and his swellings;  the death of the Valderrama Rios´ maid, stabed a thousand times ( “I´ve had to kill a vile maid to acomplish my fatal fate, you won´t serve me,  a cold coffe never again, said her murderer” ) and finally the death of the main characters in whom fate appears unexpectedly

The only thing left  is for the audience to enjoy as much of  “LITTLE BOGGED-DOWN ANGELS “  as  we´ve enjoyed putting it on stage.

Here is the policy of these “ Little Angels “ torn out of the book and sonorously and visually exposed, hopefully the least disfavored in this adventure won´t be the author himself.  He is innocent , any crime is ours.

CRISTOBAL PELAEZ GONZALEZ.

May 1995

It  will always be surprising, to the audience, that Little bogged-down angels was the work of a youngster that was baraly in his twenties. Andrés Caicedo, who persevered and failed with his plays (who doesn’t in Colombia?) he would have never imagined or maybe he would,  that these, his dear little angels would induce such an enthusiastic wave among the teenagers.  Today, in 2003 about 35.000 people have been able to enjoy this staging, that’s about 255  performances and  we believe it will go on to reach  the thousands.

Andrés who  was very obsessive with certain topics, the Rolling Stones, Richie Ray, Billy the Kid, Kim Novak, Poe, Lovecraft  could have never imagined that on the night of the fifteenth of july of 1999  in the Matacandelas Theater,   Richie Ray was watching his play  and finally  doing an improvised session of salsa in his honor. Ray wanted to know more about this Colombian guy that dedicated a lot of pages  of his novel  “¡Qué Viva la Música!“   in such novel,  he the author, would scream eat the piano up RICHIE!