Symphony for Six Actors


“To hear the birds sing, to see the wind and light scattered in space; and not thinking, not doing, not saying anything, having life suspended above time…shoes covered in mud, worn in clothes, tanned skin, and to embrace freedom like a lover…”
– Rafael Guizado
from Allegro, the third chapter of Cinco Veces Amor
Bogotá. Edit. Iqueima. Lib. Suramérica. 1948

In my translation and adaptation, Allegro is the fourth movement in SYMPHONY FOR SIX ACTORS by Rafael Guizado.

The responsibilities of adulthood invite us to get swept up in the regimented rhythm of ticking clocks and deadlines. But what lighter, frolicking tempos are missed when we march to the drumbeat of success? And at what cost?
Four brief one-act plays with musical tempos and tones, authored by Colombian radio theatre pioneer Rafael Guizado, have been arranged and adapted to represent the movements of a symphony for actors, with recapitulating themes of love, duty, fatherhood, and regret.

The July 14th Out of the Wings Festival staged reading is a European premiere. Scherzo has been performed in the USA in translation. Sonata en la Playa, Canción de Cuna, Scherzo and Allegro were all originally performed in Colombia in Spanish. We have found no evidence of their being performed elsewhere. This adaptation of Canción de Cuna, Nocturne (Lullaby), is a world premiere, as is the arrangement of all four pieces into one cohesive Symphony for Six Actors.