Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (Peru) La Mariscala: pop play rescued the role of women in the early Republican stage

The pop playLa Mariscalawas part of a winning project of CAP 2021 and sought to contribute to the construction of national identity from a gender perspective.

Recently, La Mariscala was on stage, a historical pop musical that told us about the life of Francisca Zubiaga de Gamarra in 1824, a woman who challenged all the canons of the society of the new republic of Peru. The play -whose staging has been supported by La Sonora, in co-production with the Municipal Theater of Lima- showed the struggle in search of the ideals and dreams of Francisca, and other notable women of our nation.

This project was the winner of the Annual Research Projects Competition 2021 (CAP 2021) in the Research-Creation category. The research group was formed by the professor of the Linguistics and Literature Section, Francesca Denegri; the professor of the History Section, María Elena Arce; and the professor of the Department of Performing Arts and director of the work, Mateo Chiarella.

Women in history

This work is the result of a creative and research process of the PUCP, and having won the CAP 21 allowed theteam of La Mariscalato develop an investigation regarding the impact of artistic creation on society.

“The work has as its center of reflection women as a political subject in a complex and intersectional system dominated by gender hierarchies,” says María Elena Arce.

Although the nomination of the project “Francisca Zubiaga de Gamarra, la mariscala: staging and theater criticism from a gender approach” to CAP 21 allowed the staging of the work, the story of La Mariscalabegan in 2018, with the creation of the script and the composition of around 36 songs, says Arce. Subsequently, the work won one of the 7 economic incentives for record production granted by the Ministry of Culture in 2019.

La Mariscala: research and creation

“The idea was to rescue an important historical figure from the early republican stage and contribute to the construction of national identity from a gender perspective; for this, we seek synergy between dramatic art, literary and historical research, “says Arce, regarding the research component that complements the staging of the work. “It was necessary to generate a reflection on how the academic could converse with the artistic, from aspects such as dramaturgy, history and literature,” he adds.

On the other hand, Mateo Chiarella, co-director ofLa Mariscalawith Luis Tuesta, points out that the central theme of the work allows the public to reflect on the historical-political role of women. “This work seeks to make visible the character of La Mariscala, and ask us where she was and why we did not know her. The invisibility of women is a very important issue here and precisely what La Mariscala does is make itself visible in the midst of a macho society,” she says.

Likewise, La Mariscalahas set a precedent as the first staging resulting from a Research-Creation CAP. “For the Office of Creation of the Vice-Rectorate for Research (VRI), it is essential to recognize the various forms of expression and production of knowledge existing in our University, and generate the best conditions for the development and empowerment of the research-creation and creation projects of our teachers,” says Félix Lossio, head of the Office of Creation of the VRI.