In the late 1940s, the Eva Peron Foundation granted my grandmother the opportunity to build a home in a budding Buenos Aires neighborhood – something that was unheard of in Argentina, a country with no established middle class and an extremely polarized division between the rich and the poor. My grandmother spent the rest of her life in gratitude for the Perons, as they had changed her life forever.
Nearly 75 years later and 6000 miles from where this story began, I feel the same way about the opportunity I’ve been granted to help retell the story of Evita at San Francisco Playhouse. We’re able to produce a story that takes into account Eva Peron’s autobiography and the hidden documents uncovering the truth about Peron’s presidency, both of which had been censored from the public for over 5 decades. We’re able to narrate a truer version of Evita than that of Time Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, who based their musical about Eva Peron’s life solely on a novel written to disparage her and everything she stood for.
When Evita was written, portraying the Perons from a historically accurate point of view was somewhat of a secondary consideration. We know this now, thanks to the efforts of those who fought tirelessly to bring Eva’s story into the light. And while we can’t rewrite history, we can choose to amplify the voices that were once suppressed but are now center stage.
There are many reasons why my grandmother considered Eva to be a “santa” – a saint. Beyond funding the proliferation of the middle class by constructing homes for those who couldn’t afford them, Eva Peron expedited women’s suffrage, instituted universal healthcare, and founded the most successful telecommunication network in all of Argentina. She did this all before the age of 33, as a woman in a world where only men were allowed to hold any power or make any changes.
This isn’t to say that Peron’s Argentina was perfect; but, I find peace in knowing that the Eva you will meet tonight will be far closer to the real her than the one Tim Rice once envisioned nearly 50 years ago. The dialogue, cast, direction, and essence of this production will breathe an Argentina that my grandmother would have been proud of, and one that hopefully would have reminded her of the woman she felt she owed her entire life to.
Juan Rebuffo
Dramaturg and Cultural Consultant, Evita
Top image: Eva Perón working in the Eva Perón Foundation, public domain
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