Rada is "Chanta": one role, a thousand faces, and an uncomfortable mirror
Agustín Aristarán, better known as Rada, can be described with grand adjectives like "multifaceted," "restless," "eclectic," or "chameleonic." Or, simply put, he's talented. Very talented. And very hardworking, too.
Every night, he embodies Julio Ballesteros, a recently deceased man who, from his coffin, revisits different stages of his life. All of them share a common thread... Julio is a chanta. The quintessential Argentine "chanta" who acts cocky in any situation, underestimates others, always has a biting retort, and thinks he knows it all.
The challenge? In a relentless acting marathon, Rada interprets him in rewind, from his death to when he's just a fetus in his mother's womb, passing through adulthood, adolescence, and childhood. And in this frantic backward journey, he revisits his history and his miseries.
Rada defines Julio as "a nasty old man, who, as he tells his life story, you realize why he ended up alone." When asked if he identifies with him in any way, he responds with a resounding NO.
"Rada defines Julio as 'a nasty old man who, as he tells his life story, you realize why he ended up alone'"
How was he built?
It involved a lot of work: from the characterization, physicality, and the different inflections in his voice at various points in his life. I found him alongside director Marcelo Caballero, with whom I had worked previously, and we have a very nice, shared way of working.
How was the creative process, given that it's a play by Cohn/Duprat, who have a more audiovisual language?
Fortunately, the authors gave us a lot of freedom, as it was a piece with a strong audiovisual imprint, and adapting it for the theater required significant changes. We were able to play, change, rework, and propose.
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With cynical monologues laden with irony, Julio reviews his life and exposes prejudices, customs, and hypocrisies that reveal both his own and others' miseries, decadence, ambition, and opportunism.
It's a play that makes the audience uncomfortable. Does that influence your portrayal?
It's a very vibrant piece that changes—not in its structure, because it has a very significant script, set design, music, and lighting—but it does change from performance to performance, according to what I feel from the audience.
"It's a piece that changes from performance to performance, according to what I feel from the audience"
Rada confesses that every project he embarks on is a challenge, but Chanta, in particular, tests him every night with a very complex script combined with rapid and powerful changes. He jokes, "I've been surfing it very well."
When defining himself, he asserts that his essence remains that of the magician from his beginnings, and that in Chanta, he uses magical resources to go on stage and embody this multifaceted character.
And just as he lives Julio's frenetic journey on stage, when the lights dim, the curtain falls, and he becomes Agustín again, his life imitates art. He rushes from Corrientes Street to the filming of the third installment of Envidiosa, then to the shooting of Parque Lezama with Campanella, and after that, to the imminent premiere of his TV show with Mario Pergolini. And as if by a magic trick, he continues to display his dedication and talent in every project he undertakes.
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