Chiflón, the silence of coal

Synopsis

“A shaft collapses. A young miner is expelled from the coal mine. His only option for work is the infamous Chiflón del Diablo (The Devil’s draft) gallery.

Everyday scenes bring us into the character’s intimacy and vulnerability, a coal miner’s daily heroism, a woman’s unconditional wait, not knowing if her miner will return or not.

It is a story forgotten by History, or buried in the depths of the coal mines, immersed in a true black silence.”

The Silencio Blanco Company re-interprets the “El Chiflón del Diablo” story by Baldomero Lillo, capturing the humanity of each character in their white paper marionettes, finely crafted and exposing their own materials and devices.  Through meticulous operation, they delve into the lives of simple people and lonely trades; exploring their deep emotional worlds through gestures and the dispensing of verbal text.

 “This play is a tribute to the people of Lota and to all miners, to all the families of the city that have been shaped by the loneliness of the mining shaft, the women’s agonizing wait for their fathers, brothers and husbands, and the oblivion that has set over the people who worked hard to extract the fuel that allowed for the industrialization of such a long period in history”.

Press

“The best shows I saw over a weekend at the Chicago Festival did come from other countries: "Chiflón, el silencio del carbón" by the chilean collective Silencio Blanco, whose artists manipulate sublimely crude-looking puppets with tender precision to tell a wordless story of coal mining, set partly deep beneath the earth.”

- THE NEW YORK TIMES

“It's a play that is enjoyed like a soft breath that makes the shadows dance.”

- INTERDRAM

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