In another of his great bets on theater, José María Muscari chose Leonor Benedetto to be one of the great actresses who play “Lost Mind”the work that leaves more than one lesson between laughter, dramas and the reality of what it means to suffer Alzheimer’s.
The play written by José together with Mariela Asensio debuted for the first time in 2023 with five stars who receive applause from the public: Leonor Benedetto, Ana María Picchio, Iliana Calabro, Mirta Wons and Emilia Mazer.
It did its second season in Mar del Plata in 2024 where it won the Estrella de Mar award for Best Dramatic Comedy after its successful season and returned to Corrientes Street. In August, he will go on tour through different cities in the country.
Muscari came (and remains strong) with other hits like “Sex, I lived your experience” with Diego Ramos and Julieta Ortega. Regarding his personal life, last April José gave the happy news of having adopted Lucio.
For his part, Benedetto returned to the stage with this event and had a few difficult days with his health last February when he had to make a mandatory stop. He suffered a transient ischemic attack during an interview in those days where he was already starring in this work in Mar del Plata. Many media outlets confused it with a stroke, something that greatly bothered the actress. But she returned with everything to dazzle with this interpretation that leaves more than one message.
The director devised this script with Benedetto in the role of a judge of the Nation who discovers one day that her mind is not working very well and decides to gather the most important women in her life to ask for their help. Thus, she brings together her daughter (Mazer), with whom they spark off; her sister (Wons), with whom they do not agree; her lawyer and friend (Calabró), with whom they often argue; and her lifelong maid (Picchio), her true support. It will be a slap of reality for everyone.
LOST MIND It leaves more than one reflection that seeks answers and puts on the table a topic as delicate as accepting the arrival of Alzheimer’s both for those who suffer from it and for those around them.
In SOONwe spoke with the director and the actress, who share work and friendship and who praise each other on this path they travel together.
SOON – They go from revival to revival with Lost Mind…
BENEDETTO – My impression is the celebration that people continue to accept this work and with more and more enthusiasm. It’s fantastic. This work is almost a recipe for medicine for the soul and has the deceptive situation of making it seem like it is comical. It is totally comical until a moment that puts a magnifying glass in your heart and this is not mine, it is said by people who come out crying or laughing because there are very few works on the bill that have such a brutal approach to reality. It talks about reality but it is a hilarious fiction.
SOON – Muscari makes works with a slap of reality. Is this what you feel after returning from that difficult month of health?
BENEDETTO – It wasn’t a month, it was two or three days. It wasn’t what the press said, I never had a stroke but I think your colleagues went the easy way and said it was a stroke. Yes, I had a small stumble that lasted two or three minutes.but here we are.
SOON – It was a pause to move forward… How is your health now?
BENEDETTO – Well… (breaks down, gets emotional, is silent).
SOON – We needed you back here on the stage.
BENEDETTO – I don’t think so. The theater can do without me and anyone else (he jokes)… For me it is a joy and the feeling of fulfilling a mission. I think the public needs this work. It is deep but not solemn. It’s funny but it’s not an empty comedy. This work has a rare balance.
SOON – José, what does it mean to you to have Leonor on stage?
MUSCARI – For me, working with Leonor is a dream come true because it was a pending subject. She is an actress that I have admired all my life. Particularly, before working with her I admired her as an actress and now I admire her as a person, too. I feel that she is someone who is constantly re-editing her thoughts and commitment to life and profession. She has something very playful on stage and very committed at the same time, which is difficult to find. On the other hand, something emotional happens to me with Leonor and I always like to be with her. I had a good time. All of that, for me, is the essence of doing theater and the people you surround yourself with. Theater has something ritualistic, which is the encounter with those people who for a time are your community, that’s what Lost Mind also talks about. I agree with Leonor’s every word that the work is an excellent exercise for the viewer. It is a show that excites you, makes you think, entertains you, opens up new perspectives for you. It gives you the option to think about certain topics from another place. It is the first time that Alzheimer’s has been touched upon since comedy and the result is very happy. We are on our way to completing our third uninterrupted year on stage. With the Estrella de Mar awards for comedy, for Best Performance for Leonor and for Ana María. What has been happening with the work until today is always a joy. It will surely continue to happen in a very competitive year. The public finds a great proposal in what we do.
SOON – Leonor, why do you say yes to Muscari?
BENEDETTO – It is the first time we work together. I said yes after reading the work. I found it dazzling. Let (Tomás) Rotemberg tell you this, because he gave me the work at eleven at night and at 3 in the morning I had already read it three times and I decided that I was going to do it. Without any speculation of ‘well, he’ll do well, the public will like him’. I never thought about that one. It could have been a complete failure. I never accept a job with speculation in terms of numbers, or number of viewers. For me acceptance depends on something else, what happened to me when I was reading it and what I imagined I could do with that text. And here I am and I don’t plan to leave unless they kick me out.
SOON – What does it mean for you to be working in times of crisis and little fiction?
BENEDETTO – I’m old enough to have been through everything. And when I say everything, I say EVERYTHING. It’s a kind of loop, the crises in Argentina, and I know positively that if there is a part of society that insists, it is the artistic one: singers, actors. It doesn’t terrify me, nor does it make me want to raise my finger and say what needs to be done. I think it is a community that survives despite everything and will continue to do so. I don’t get terrified easily.
SOON – José, you don’t get terrified easily either because there is one play after another, a different bet on Corrientes Street or any theater where you perform. What is the next challenge?
MUSCARI – The next challenge is to sustain a show like this on Corrientes Street in a successful season, continue betting on Sex, spread my new invention which is the “Muy Muscari” podcast that you can listen to on Spotify. At this moment I am not focused on a new project but rather on sustaining what I have. I think it also takes a creative and emotional part to be able to hold all that. It is a year in which I personally feel more comfortable not innovating and enhancing what I already created. We were talking to Picchio, there is no better option at this moment than since you cannot save that money to spend it on something that does you good and if there is something that does good, it is the theater.
SOON – Is having a child inspiring you to continue growing?
MUSCARI – I believe that one is a whole. I am the same when I lead as when I am a father, son or friend. Of course, being a father is a new routine and a new universe that will open up new perspectives for me. The life I have is a source of inspiration for everything I do. What I’m trying to do is make that come out at some point.
The complete interview with Muscari and Benedetto is in the June digital edition of Pronto magazine, it can be downloaded and read for free by clicking on this link
You can also find it on YouTube.
