The actress and feminist activist Pamela Palenciano (Andújar, 1982) has been performing her monologue for 15 years It’s not just the blows that hurt, an argument against gender violence through her personal story. This season she returns to Madrid’s Teatro del Barrio with a trilogy about romantic love.
He returns to the theatre with three plays: what themes will they address? It’s not just the blows that hurt It deals with: romantic love as a breeding ground for sexist violence, gender stereotypes, patriarchal violence, stopping calling violence toxic and building love relationships in the gerund. Tear-off It deals with institutional violence, it is a tribute to protective mothers who defend their children from having been abused by their parents, it is a work that aims to make this painful issue visible but with the aim of giving light and resilience. The walkers: migration, racism, institutional violence in the home and care sector.
When did you know you would dedicate yourself to theatre? It was in 2009, I was living in El Salvador and I was doing a theatre workshop, then I realized that my workshop “Not only blows hurt” could be transformed into a dramatized workshop that later became a monologue. In 2011 I formed my company Teatro del Azoro in El Salvador and I accompanied the birth of the company La Cachada Teatro.
Are there days when you regret having made that decision? I never regret theatre, I only regret not having had that drive since I was a child…
What is the best review you have ever received? From Tony Sánchez, lighting technician at the Teatro del Barrio in Madrid. He sees a lot of theatre and is very sincere with what he sees, he always says: “Less is more, and your theatre is the essence of what it means to make theatre.” I also cherish this news note.
And the most extravagant? This one is from EL PAÍS.
What was the last book you liked? The artist’s way, by Julia Cameron.
The one you have open right now on your nightstand? To inhabit a non-place, by Galician Mar, Andalusian feminism.
Who are your top three playwrights? Egly Larreynaga, director and co-founder of the Teatro del Azoro and La Cachada Teatro, Andrés Lima and Angélica Liddell.
The last play you saw? Casting Lear, by Andrea Jimenez.
What movie have you seen the most times? Stonesby Ramon Salazar.
The one that reminds you of your childhood? Mary Poppins.
The last series you watched in one go? With my 10 year old son I have watched all the seasons of Stranger Things.
If you had to use a song or a piece of music as a self-portrait, what would it be? The song Mr Hyde, by Belen Aguilera.
Which one is playing on loop in your head? Gasfrom Besmaya.
Which museum would you like to live in? At the MUPI in El Salvador.
What historical event do you admire most? The Salvadoran civil war.
What assignment would you never accept? Any commission that wants to denigrate women or children.
What is socially overrated? Be happy.
If she weren’t an actress and activist, she would have liked to be… Having a haberdashery in an Andalusian town, a psychologist or psychiatrist specialising in assisting adolescents and a veterinarian to be able to save many animals.
