Sara Silva and the legacy of Circus of Horrors: “It’s a radical change”

– Sarah, how are you? How are the first weeks of Prisonia going?

– Well, we’ve been here for two weeks and we’re already a bit into the rhythm, the truth is that I’m more relaxed now. It’s true that at first it was hard to let go of my father on stage, we have always shared so many moments and had this connection, but hey, now he comes out of the shadows and watches everything.

– So there was no such radical change either. Is he going to tour with you?

A: He will come, he will leave, he will control us from the outside, but he will not be present all the time, in fact, he is at home now, but he comes and goes when he can, because at the end of the day we also have a family and he can’t be in everything. He’s also writing new and upcoming shows and doesn’t have time for everything.

– Do you feel a lot of pressure to somehow follow in your father’s footsteps?

– Well, I have to say that maybe at the beginning, as I didn’t know where the new show was going to take me, I also felt a lot of pressure, because from a young age I have always been very demanding of myself, but to have been able to direct the character where I feel most comfortable and thanks to my father, who in the end is a father, is a director, is a writer, gave me a helping hand and I am very comfortable, because in the end it is from from a much more dramatic point that I find myself in my comfort zone, much more theatrical, much more dynamic, and the truth is that I was lucky to be able to work on it hand in hand with my father.

– Did you have a say in making decisions for Prisionia? Have you made any changes?

– The reality is that, look, Suso is very good at what he does and sometimes it is difficult for him to listen, it is true that I tried to add a point to the more feminine and younger end, because Suso comes from an era very outside of technology, much more analog, and I have always been much more digital, and that is what we tried to put on the table and say that we are going to do something new, much more current, since we are going to change era, let’s give the Circus of Horrors a facelift, with much more impressive moments at the circus level, more recent, like seven bikers in a ball who represent the brain of artificial intelligence, or five Ethiopian girls who do a contortion act simulating that they are cryonized, which are part of an AI experiment. So yes.

-If there is a big change from other shows, why should the audience go see it this time?

– They are very different from each other, but it is true that it has been a very radical change. Yes, change has happened. For this reason, my father and I, as well as the company in general, were very afraid to see what criticism we would receive, because making a change so suddenly, Suso was no longer on stage, no longer sucking heads and people expected me to do it… I have already said yes, that we all have a price, but for the moment my tongue is safe.

-And what feedback do you receive after these first performances?

– Well, the truth is that it is very good, much better than I expected, that there is a lot of energy, that I carry the role with maximum comfort. I also bring out a more villainous, more rebellious point. This year I taught dance classes, because they gave me everything they could and more. I also dance with the company dancers. And I think maybe this year I’ll have to learn too… All the characters I’ve played so far, since I was five years old, were very far from reality, so speaking and acting in my own voice was something I’d never done before. It’s true that I studied drama for four years and that also helped me a lot, but from a more torn point of view, Azul’s character is very emotional. He experiences a lot of emotion throughout the two hours, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions. So going through all these moments in a very short time was difficult and I had to work hard, very hard at home, with my father, at the office.

– What do you like most about each role?

– I think about the last part, where I have a dramatic text, which is perhaps the part that cost me the most, because it speaks to the rawest truth and lets the audience know that, what we all experienced, those moments when you wanted to hug someone who hurt you, feel fear, feel joy, hope, convey that and it hits me in a very real way… I mean, there’s not a day when Sara, like Sara, doesn’t get emotional and it happens to me that almost every day I end up in tears because of how hard I get. This text arrives, which I find beautiful, which Suso wrote very well, really.

– Your father always says that life in the circus is very demanding. Have you ever considered leading your life on another, more conventional path?

– Do you know what’s going on? I’ve thought about it so many times to try to have another option, in case it doesn’t go well, because you already know what spectacle is, what art is… but at the end of the day, all roads lead me here and what fills me, doesn’t fill me with another job. I also thought about studying journalism, because I’m good at writing, but in the end I thought: why should I take another path if every time I go on stage I’m so excited? Also that I have lived surrounded by it since I was very little and that I could have perfectly taken another path.

In fact, my brother, who is now 12, says, “I’m not part of the family because that gives me a lot of respect,” right? And I could have continued with my family, but I don’t see any other way than that, because I really like it, who knows, right? But right now, it really, really bothers me.

– Well, it’s normal if that’s what you’ve been experiencing since you were little…

– It has always been like this, combining and combining studies and work. When I was little, I took it a little more… Well, my parents tried to make me take it more as a game. I never took it as a game, because for me it was super serious and everything had to go really well. I’m talking to you about when I was five years old. At the end, my father said to me: listen, to go on stage dressed normally, let’s create a character for you. And that’s how I got on stage one day during the show and Suso said to me, do you want to do this? Well, let’s create a character.

And from there was born Dulce Sara, the little girl who played ball with her mother’s head. I mean, then there was no trauma, but it’s true that it was… It was easy because since I was little, I’ve been good at studies, but growing up, there was a point when I was already in high school that I said, I have to put this aside a little bit, because it was being in the locker room between the makeup and the wigs and also the study notes and it was impossible. And that’s when I said, I think I need to stop a little bit, focus on my studies and when I’m done, well if I want to come back, I always have the door open here.

– Do you have another type of show in mind?

– I thought about it, but I have so much fear and so much respect for him… because I have the figure of my father who does these atrocities, so it’s like… Maybe I should try to jump in the pool and maybe he gives me a hand at the beginning, but for the moment I continue to let Suso take this part, because that’s also it, if we take that away from him, then… He will have everything. I think he will have the nerve to leave the track and one day, when we realize it, he will come out. I don’t know how he manages to confront it from the outside, from the shadows, because ultimately that’s what I was telling you, since I took this path, he also took it at the time, and for us who make a living from art, it’s very difficult to put it aside, so it always comes back, I think.