Los Desaparecidos

From February 2011

In Argentina from 1976 to 1983 a campaign of state-sponsored political repression resulted in an estimated 30,000 alleged people including children were abducted and, if not killed, held in inhumane conditions & tortured never to return to their families. Those people literally disappeared, hence the term Los Desaparecidos.

At the Traverse this week are two very short plays about this subject. Both focus on a woman's attempt to find her missing brother. In The Archivist Ana vents her frustration towards a bureaucrat who is working his last day in the missing persons office. Instructions for a Butterfly Collector an unamed woman describes her feelings for a brother that she scarcely knew; a heartbreaking performance from Lucianne McEvoy.

In the circumstances it feels rather trite (but when has that ever stopped me?) to say that as ever these lunchtime plays at the Traverse are terrific value: A Play, A Pie and A Pint for £12. You can't really go wrong.

The Archivist / Instructions for a Butterfly Collector, Traverse Theatre, until 26th February