Cocinando Con Elisa (Cooking with Elisa)

Gente de Teatro presents Cocinando Con Elisa (Cooking with Elisa) by Lucía Laragione September 17-20 in the University of St Thomas Jones Hall.

Through the relationship between a chef and her apprentice, Cooking with Elisa displays with splendid dramatic conviction the sinister world of the conflict between power and violence, embodied this time by two women. Lucía Laragione has created a truly intense, exceptional plot where intrigue and suspense blend with the horrific.

Cooking with Elisa, the author’s first theatrical work was presented in Lisbon and Madrid as well as in Buenos Aires. It has received a number of prizes, including the prestigious María Teresa León Award granted by the Spanish Association of Stage Directors (ADE) and the Spanish Ministry of Social Services Women’s Institute.

In Argentina it has also earned several awards, among them Second Place, 1995 Mayor’s Award (Category: Unperformed Plays); Special Mention, 1997 María Guerrero Award; and the 1998 Argentores Award for Best Play of 1997.

Artistic Director: Marcela Salas
Cast: Ana Ilvento Scuseria & Claudia Soroka.

This production is not suitable for children.

Gente de Teatro thanks Lucía Laragione for generously donating the rights to “Cocinando con Elisa”

About the author: Lucía Laragione

Lucía Laragione was born on 1946 and grew up in Buenos Aires, in the neighborhood of Parque Patricios, surrounded by books, in a house in which literature was always important. She discovered the pleasure of reading at an early age, and as the daughter of the writer Raúl Larra met a number of authors she admired.

After completing high school Laragione began university studies but her artistic training was at the hands of other writers whom she considers her mentors: Santiago Kovadloff, Mauricio Kartun and Tamara Kamenszain. In 1973 she published her first book, Poemas angelicales (Angelical Poems), which was followed in 1980 by another volume of poems, La rosa inexistente (The Non-existent Rose).

She then dedicated herself to children’s literature, writing stories and novels. Her books for children are published by Alfaguara; some of the most popular titles are Amores que matan (Loves that Kill), Tratado universal de monstruos (Universal Monsters Treatise) and El mar en la piedra (The Sea in the Stone).

Laragione started writing for theatre during the 1990s. Her first play, Cocinando con Elisa (Cooking with Elisa), won the María Teresa León Award for female playwrights, granted by the Spanish Directors’ Association and the Ministry for Women. The play was staged in Madrid, Buenos Aires, Lisbon and Grenoble (France).

Her plays Criaturas de aire (Creatures of Air), which received the First Municipal Prize in Argentina and El reino de las imágenes nítidas (The Kingdom of Sharp Images) have also been performed, as well as short works including 1ro. de Mayo (1st Of May), El ganso del Djurgarden(The Djurgarden Goose), El silencio de las tortugas (The Silence of the Turtles). The play Las asesinas de Gardel (Gardel’s Assasins), co-authored by Laragione with Antonia De Michelis, was presented on 2011.