The return of Egon Wolff’s Invaders

Abstract

Disdained as School of Resentment, humanities prophesied the October Revolution (Chile, 19 Oct. 2019). Against insults, in this essay, I insist that theatre and performance—the critical and historiographical traditions involved in its study—have portrayed one of the most accurate prophecies of the present. To demonstrate my statement, I will offer a close reading of The Invaders [Los invasores] (1963), by Egon Wolff (1926-2016). Through this critical exercise, I’ll finally describe the cornerstones of this social crisis. From the perspective of neoliberal think tanks and hegemonic mass media, this is yet an unpredictable event. Naturally, I’m referring to (a) the return of the people [pueblo], (b) the denounce uttered by these people about a Nation-state that became a sacrifice zone, and (c) the urgent need—also diagnosticated by the same people—of refunding the cultural codes bequeathed by the shock doctrine installed under the dictatorship.