Inspiring Women : November 2020

“We are Such Stuff as Dreams Are
Made On”
Verónica Isola
During the 15 years I lived in Paris, I mostly worked in theater companies with many actors.
However, I was longing to write, produce and perform a monologue. I had to start from scratch. I
only knew the story and the character, which I had decided on twenty years ago when I first read
“Romeo and Juliet.” In my monologue, Juliet’s nurse would talk about her filial relationship with the
teenager and how she would overcome her absence. The nurse’s partner: her dog, Gulliver.
Then my husband received a job offer in Barcelona. Three months later, there we were: my
husband, myself and our little girl. I took it as an opportunity to work on my project. I could write
and rehearse when I was not working in my role as mom. However, the unprecedented COVID-19
crisis, followed by the recession and 100-day lockdown changed almost everything.
I fancied the idea of a monologue, but now not of being all alone, so I invited a cellist to accompany
me on stage. Projections were added: videos, paintings and pictures. Shakespeare, the Nurse and Her
Dog was ready for its premiere thanks to wonderful teamwork!
As theaters closed due to the crisis, theater had to go to their audience. Playing in someone’s house
seemed to me to be the perfect idea. We experienced magical performances. Nearness, and the
private atmosphere at people’s homes, was the perfect stage for the nurse’s storytelling. Then I said
to myself, art is more powerful when gathered rather than apart. We started performing at art
galleries and met a new audience. Our work grew. How
emotional it was to act surrounded by pieces of art, each of
them telling a story itself.
I kept affectionate memories from an exhibition by the New
York photographer, Ryan Weideman, and his pictures of New
York in the 1980s in a taxi by night. Shakespeare would have
been happy to see one of his plays in such a setting!
After this amazing adventure and all the twists and turns, I
understood I could create my own company. That is how Argos
Theatre Company was born. Yes, Argos, another dog – but this
is another story.
When full lockdown was declared in Spain, the measures
applied were extremely strict, and I realized I could no longer
enjoy my daily walks that helped me so much balance my
body, heart and soul. I considered possible options. I had been
working for months on a performance about four remarkable
female composers. I complained of lack of time and of long
hours ahead to devote to research and writing, but suddenly a
pandemic, as negative as it is, was providing this to me. How
paradoxical life can be at times.
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On set