Who said theater has to be solemn or boring? The Buenos Aires theater scene always manages to surprise, and this time it offers an experience that turns dramatic texts into a real battle arena where two pairs of actors face off to create a play they’ve never seen before in record time right before your eyes.
What Is “De Armas Tomar”: A Ring of Words, Voices, and Live Acting
If you’re passionate about theater and have already seen plays even at the most hidden theaters in Buenos Aires, you have to check out this fresh, dynamic, and adrenaline-fueled format where actors who don’t know each other face off to create a play they’ve never seen before.
“De Armas Tomar: Read-Aloud Theater Battles” is a series that moves away from traditional plays to bring the essence of theater to the forefront: acting.
Through a format that simulates a duel, two pairs of actors who don’t know each other bring scripts and plays to life with the text in hand. Without elaborate set designs or over-the-top staging, the actors discover which play they’ll be performing at the same time you do, and the only rule is that the performance must last 10 minutes.
In each performance, four actors divided into two teams face off in a blind duel: they don’t know which scene they’ll be performing until they step onto the stage. With the host serving as master of ceremonies and a live musician setting the pace, both sides have just a few minutes to put together their performance and act it out in a maximum of 10 minutes. Who comes out on top? The final decision rests with the most unforgiving judge of all: the audience.
You can get tickets for this theatrical battle on the Alternativa Teatral website. Admission is pay-what-you-can, with contributions ranging from 5,000 pesos to 20,000 pesos—you choose how much you want to pay.
De Armas Tomar is at Timbre 4 on Friday and Saturday nights.
📍México 3554
