Gustavo Ott
Encyclopedia
Gustavo Ott is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist and director who founded the Teatro San Martín de Caracas (Caracas Saint Martin Theatre) in 1993. Ott's plays have won numerous awards, including the Spanish Tirso de Molina
Tirso de Molina
Tirso de Molina was a Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet and a Roman Catholic monk.Originally Gabriel Téllez, he was born in Madrid. He studied at Alcalá de Henares, joined the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy on November 4, 1600, and entered the Monastery of San Antolín at Guadalajara,...

 International Playwriting Prize in 1998 for 80 Dientes, 4 metros y 200 kilos ("80 Teeth, 4 Feet & 500 Pounds"); the Ricardo López Aranda International Playwriting Prize (2003, Spain) for Tu Ternura Molotov ("Your Molotov Kisess"); placed second in the National Contest for Contemporary Creation and Innovative Playwriting of the Institute for Performing Arts and Music (2006, Venezuela) for 120 vidas x minuto ("120 Lives a Minute") and runner-up, Torreperogil Playwriting Prize (2007, Spain) for Monstruos en el closet, ogros bajo la cama. ("Monsters in the Closet, Ogres under the Bed")

Following the 1989 stage premiere of Divorciadas, evangélicas y vegetarianas, ("Divorcees, Evangelists, and Vegetarians"), Ott's works have been widely produced both in Venezuela and internationally to critical and public acclaim, making his work "indispensable...for any anthology of Venezuelan theater" and a regular participant in international theater festivals. Some of his success may be due to a commitment to "theater that can be both commercial and worthwhile. That can experiment and draw audiences."
Ott's plays have been translated from Spanish into English, Portuguese, German, French, Danish, Greek, Russian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Japanese, Turkish, Catalan and Creole.

Influences

In his twenties, Ott studied under José Ignacio Cabrujas and took part in the 1988–1989 CELCIT Playwriting Workshop held by Venezuelan playwright Rodolfo Santana, whom he once called "the father" of his work. The two share a definite stiletto sharp comic sense and a metaphoric treatment of dramatic situation that confounds persona and politics, individual and nation. Ott has often cited the "cordial relations" among Venezuelan playwrights and acknowledged the debt he owes to such "original models" as Isaac Chocrón
Isaac Chocrón
Isaac Chocrón Serfaty was a Venezuelan playwright and translator. He was born in Maracay, and was a graduate of Columbia University. He later directed the School of Arts at the Central University of Venezuela. He died in Caracas.-Reference:*...

, who also explores the subject of God in his work.

As an author who has claimed "you have to write for the world, not just your corner of it", his international influences cannot be overlooked. For Ott, who has lived abroad and traveled extensively, these include Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

, who the author recognizes "had an influence not only on my writings, but on my perception of art and even my dedication to literature." After Pinter, Ott developed an avid interest in the work of David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...

, which included translating some of the American author's plays. Ott's close study of Mamet is clear in his poetic treatment of street dialogue, action language and rhythm marking found in much of his work, as well as its minimalist stage direction. Ott also cites other English-language playwrights as influences, including Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...

, Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...

, Merber and Ridley, along with a wide range of novelists and poets such as Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...

 J. M. Coetzee, William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

 and Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...

.

Career

In 1988 Teatro Cinco" was published in Venezuela and featured the plays Los peces crecen con la luna (1983), El Siglo de las luces (1986) as well as "Passport" (1988), a work focusing on identity, arbitrariness, and immigration.

Ott's stage premiere by the group TextoTeatro came in 1989 with Divorciadas, Evangélicas y Vegetarianas, ("Divorcées, Evangelists, and Vegetarians") a comedy about friendship. Other comedies followed, such as Apostando a Elisa (1990) and Cielito lindo (1990). In 1991 he opened one of his most acclaimed works, Pavlov: Dos Segundos antes del Crimen, ("Pavlov: Two Seconds Before the Crime") which displayed Ott's hallmark "cruel and unusual humor". Ott's debut on the American stage came in 1995 with GALA's Washington, D.C. based production of this play under the direction of Abel Lopez.

During these years, Ott wrote for a wide audience, with works such as 1992's ¿Nunca Dije Que Era una Niña Buena? ("Who Ever Said I Was a Good Girl?"), a work that deals with gang violence, also produced in the U.S. by GALA. With this play, Ott founded the Teatro San Martín de Caracas (TSMC), while in the same year Madrid's Cuarta Pared opened its Lavapies Theater with "Passport", directed by Javier Yagüe. Linda Gatita ("Minor Leagues", formerly "I Tawt I Taw a Putty Tat"), also opened that year, chronicling the search for affection in relations between North and South America, along with Quiéreme mucho (The Very Thought of You) TSMC, 1993, where twin stories of love and immigration across two generations are told with the symmetry of an M. C. Escher
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...

 painting.

In 1996 Avispa Publishers in Madrid issued two volumes containing six plays covering Ott's early work. In 1997 Las piezas del mal was published in Caracas featuring "Pavlov," , the 1994 Gorditas ("Fat Chicks") written for a female cast on the subject of ambition, and Corazón Pornográfico (1995), a comedy that analyzes crime in a style oscillating between realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...

 and comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

. In 1996, Ott began his most important group of plays to date, which he called "Pentagram." This comprised five plays in what he dubbed "the Latin American macabre style": Comegato (1997 Caracas Municipal Theater Award, 1998 Casa del Artista Award), a work on the dilemma between decency and crime; Fotomatón (1997 Caracas Municipal Theater Award, 1999 Casa del Artista Award), an autopsy of the Latin American soul; 80 Dientes, 4 metros y 200 kilos (80 Teeth, 4 Feet and 500 Pounds)(1998 Tirso de Molina International Playwriting Prize, Runner-up, 2001 Princess Grace Award, 2002 Caracas Municipal Theater Award, 2002 CELCIT Award), an epic work on the subject of guilt; Tres Esqueltos y Medio (finalist, 1998 Jose Ignacio Cabrujas Prize), a play on the macabre intersection between transcendence and the criminal present and "Miss" (2002 Celcit Award), on Latin American ambition.

2002 saw Casa de América in Madrid publish Dos Amores y un Bicho,("Two Loves and a Creature"). a play that marked a departure from Ott's usual style, with few ties to his previous work, particularly in its use of form, subject and language. "Two Loves..." is a play about hatred and was immediately translated into English, French, German, and Creole, premiering in Caracas in 2004, under the direction of its author. As Deux Amours et une Petite Bette, the play opened in December 2003 in Lyon, France
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

. That year, his one-man show Bandolero y malasangre translated by Francoise Thanas, was premiered by Scene Nationale in Potiers, France, and later premiered in Catalan by the group Diverbia in Valencia, Spain
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...

. The play was published in Cuba's Conjunto magazine in 2004.

Ott was chosen in 2002 and 2003 to participate in the "New Work Now!" program at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York, with "80 Teeth…" and "Two Loves and a Creature," both translated by Heather McKay, as well as the Playwriting Program at La Mousson D'Ete in France and "La Mousson a Paris" in the Comedie Française
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....

, with "Photomaton," translated by Françoise Thanas and directed by Michel Didym. In 2005 Deux Amours was again presented at the studio of the Comedie Française, also translated by Thanas, under the direction of Vicent Colin.

In 2004, in Santander, Spain
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

, Ricardo López Aranda prizewinner Tu ternura molotov ("Your Molotov Kisses"), a play on the interrelation of intolerance and terrorism, was published. "Molotov" premiered the same year in the Teatro Cuyás in la Palma on Grand Canary
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...

, staged by Profetas de Mueble Bar and also in Argentina (CLECIT, 2006), Mexico (Teatro Xola, DF, 2006), Portugal (AL-MaSRAH Teatro, Algarve), Washington, D.C. (GALA, 2008), Colombia (Teatro Nacional, 2008), California (Teatro de las Américas, 2008), Caracas (2009) and was presented in English by The Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas as part of its 2007 "New Plays" program.

Ott's first comedy in 10 years, "Pony" opened in 2006, examining the issues of both personal and political fraud. The same year, the Quartiers D´Ivry program in Paris presented "Deux amours…" and "Photomaton", directed by Elizabeth Chailloux. Ott took second place in the 2006 National Contest for Contemporary Creation and Innovative Playwriting of the Institute for Performing Arts and Music, Caracas, with "120 Lives a Minute", a piece on catastrophe and the meaning of art and country, premiered in Caracas, under the direction of the author in 2007. "120 Lives a Minute" opened in English in a production for Ohio Northern University
Ohio Northern University
Ohio Northern University is a private, United Methodist Church-affiliated university located in the United States in Ada, Ohio, founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871. ONU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. ONU is a sister...

, USA, directed by Otto Minera.

Spain's Asociación de Autores de Teatro published "Monsters in the Closet, Ogres Under the Bed", in 2008, a work on the victims of the 9/11 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, while Mexico's Paso de Gato published "Passport" in its Cuadernos de Dramaturgia Internacional. The same year, Lagoudera Publishers in Athens published Tu Ternura Molotov, translated by Stamatis Polenakis and "Chat" (2008), a play about collective perversity in virtual communication, translated by Stamatis Polenakis, D. Siuva, Cleopatra Eleotriviari, S. Cufopulu, A. Sarafi, C. Tsocalidu and I. Lasopulu. Both Greek translations were overseen by Maria Jatziemanuíl.

Meriwether Publishing Ltd in the U.S. included selections from Otts plays in English translation by Heather McKay in "Audition Monologs for Student Actors" (1999); International Plays for Young Audiences (2000); " Audition Monologs for Student Actors II" (2001) and "New Audition Scenes and Monologues from Contemporary Playwrights: The Best New Cuttings From Around the World" (2003, 2005 and 2007). His plays have also been published in Spain, France, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Greece, and Venezuela.

Plays

Original Title English Title Cast Written Premiere
Notará que llevo un arma 3 M, 2 F 2007 2008
120 vidas x minuto 120 Lives X Minute 2 F, 3 M (variable) 2006 2007
Pony, Nunca te he negado una lágrima 1M, 1 F 2003 2006
Monstruos en el closet, ogros bajo la cama 2 F 2001 2006
Tu ternura molotov Your Molotov Kisses 1 F, 1 M 2002 2004
Dos amores y un bicho Two Loves and a Creature 1 M, 2 F 2001 2005
Bandolero y malasangre Wet Dog Waiting 1 M, (one man show) 2000 2005
Miss Miss 3 F, 4 M (multiple roles) 1999 2003
Lágrimas de cocodrila 1 F (one woman show) 1998 2005
Tres esqueletos y medio 3F, 3 M 1997/1998 2001
80 dientes, 4 metros y 200 kilos 80 Teeth, 4 Feet & 500 Pounds 4 M, 1 F 1996 2002
Comegato 1F, 2 M 1997 1998
Fotomatón 1 M (one-man show) 1995 1999
Corazón pornográfico 2 F, 4 M 1995 1995
Gorditas Fat Chicks 4 F 1993 1993
Me parece ver una linda gatita Minor Leagues 1 F (young), 1 M 1992 1992
Nunca dije que era una niña buena Who Ever Said I was a Good Girl? 3 F, 2 M 1991 1991
Cielito lindo 2 F, 3 M 1990 1990
Apostando a Elisa 3 M 1990 1990
Divorciadas, evangélicas y vegetarianas Divorceés, Evangelists and Vegetarians 3 F 1989 1989
Quiéreme mucho The Very Thought of You 1 F, 1 M (2 roles each) 1989 1993
Passport Passport 3 M or 1 F, 2 M 1988 1991
Pavlov: dos segundos antes del crimen Pavlov: Two Seconds Before the Crime 2 F, 3 M 1986 1991
El Siglo de las Luces 1 F, 3 M 1986 2005
Los peces crecen con la luna Red Sky at Night 1 F, 2 M 1982 1993

Published work

  • Η ΤΡΥΦΕΡΗ ΣΟΥ ΜΟΛΟΤΟΦ & CHAT, Trans. Stamatis Polenakis, D. Siuva, C. Eleotriviari, S. Cufopulu, A. Sarafi, C. Tsocalidu and I. Lasopulu; Lagoudera Publishers (Athens, 2008). ISBN 978-960-7893-54-3
  • "Monstruos en el clóset, ogros bajo la cama" in Ícaro y Monstruos en el clóset, ogros bajo la cama, Asociación de Autores de Teatro (Torreperogil, 2008). ISBN 978-84-96837-04-1
  • 120 vidas X minuto, Fund. Ed. el perro y la rana (Caracas, 2007). ISBN 978-980-396-531-0
  • Passport!, DRAMA Ed., Trans. Thomas Hauger (Grasten, Denmark: 2007). ISBN 978-87-7865-682-7
  • "Sin su pasado puñal" in El Diván: 25 autoconfesiones Ed. El Milagro (Mexico City, 2003). ISBN 968-6773-83-5
  • Divorciadas, Evangélicas e Vegetarianas, Ed.3 & Pronto, Trans. Marcio Gallacci Pereira (Salvador, Brazil: 2005).
  • Scenes from "Two Loves and a Creature" and "Your Molotov Kisses" in New Audition Scenes and Monologs from Contemporary Playwrights: the best new cuttings from around the world, ed. Roger Ellis, Meriwether Publishing Ltd. (2005). ISBN 978-1-56608-105-4
  • Tu ternura Molotov Ed. Ayuntamiento de Santander (Santander, 2004). ISBN 84-86993-69-5
  • Photomaton, Ed. Les Solitaires Intempestifs, Trans. Françoise Thanas (Besançon, France: 2003). ISBN 2-84681-61-3
  • "Bandolero y Malasangre" in Conjunto, No. 127 (Havana, Cuba) January–March 2003.
  • Monologue from "Who Ever Said I Was a Good Girl?" in New Audition Scenes and Monologues from Contemporary Playwrights: The Best New Cuttings From Around the World, ed. Roger Ellis, Meriwether Publishing Ltd. (2003).
  • "Dos amores y un bicho" in Nueva Dramaturgia de Venezuela Ed. Casa de América (Madrid, 2002). ISBN 84-88490-58-5
  • Gorditas Ed. Fundación Author (Madrid, 2001). ISBN 84-8048-425-X
  • Monologue from "80 Teeth, 4 Feet & 500 Pounds" in Audition Monologs for Student Actors II, Meriwether Publishing (2001). ISBN 978-1-56608-073-6
  • Gustavo Ott I (Divorcidadas, evangélicas y vegetarianas; Quiéreme mucho; El siglo de las luces) Ed. Avispa (Madrid 2000). ISBN 84-95489-14-7
  • Gustavo Ott II (Gorditas; Tres esqueletos y medio; Apostando a Elisa) Ed. Avispa (Madrid 2000). ISBN 84-95489-15-5
  • "Minor Leagues" in International Plays for Young Audiences, Meriwether Publishing (2000). ISBN 978-1-56608-065-1
  • 80 Dientes, 4 Metros y 200 Kilos Ed. Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica (Madrid, 1999). ISBN 84-7232-820-1
  • Monologue from "Who Ever Said I Was a Good Girl?" in Audition Monologs for Student Actors, Meriwether Publishing (1999). ISBN 978-1-56608-055-2
  • Antología culpable Ed. FUNDARTE (Caracas, 1997). ISBN 980-253-332-7
  • "Divorciadas, evangélicas y vegetarianas" in Antología crítica del teatro breve hispanoamericano. 1948-1993 Ed. María Mercedes Jaramillo and Yepes, M., Editorial Universidad de Antioquia, Colección Teatro (Medellín, 1997).
  • "Divorciadas, evangélicas y vegetarianas" in Dramaturgia: Voces Nuevas Fund. CELARG (Caracas, 1991). ISBN 980-6197-16-X
  • 8 Piezas and two plays, Vols. I and II, Ed. Textoteatro (Caracas, 1991). ISBN 980-07-0665-8
  • Teatro Cinco, Ed. Textoteatro (Caracas, 1989). ISBN 980-300-622-3
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