Edinburgh Fringe Q&A: Gabriela Muñoz

Tell us about your show. What can audiences expect?

Julieta is an homage to celebrate my Great Aunt Julieta’s life (in my heart, my Grandma). It is a very intimate and delicate love letter to her, to my memory of her, and to any grandma out there. It is a reminder to live life to the fullest and to be grateful for every step taken. I hope it helps people remember the ones who aren’t with us anymore and for those lucky ones who still have a Julieta near them – may it be a grandma, a mother, a friend or a neighbour – to want to contact them and celebrate life.

Can you talk about some of the creative team involved?

I found the perfect allies to build this show with. I had already been working with both set designers, Rebekka Dornhege Reyes and Gemma Raurell Colomer, in a symphonic project called The Silence of Sound. I told them about this story, one that instantly related to them too, and my plans on recreating a set that would transform with the character as the narrative progressed. Later on, I asked my good friend Natalia Lafourcade to make the music for the piece and to make it tally with my memories of Mexico and my Grandma back in the day. Heleen De Boever is the Producer of the show and introduced me to our technical director Joan Lavandeira.

This project is co-produced by Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Chamäleon Berlin and TOHU Montréal, the best of the best!

Where do you draw inspiration from for your work, both in terms of creation and performance?

It normally is taken from my life and experiences: it's a passage, an emotion, a precise image or even a texture that triggers my memories and there always seems to be something that needs to be transcended or healed. It’s the only way I know how to make sense of experiences and find true inspiration by sharing them with others and understanding that I'm not alone in the world. I’m just opening the door and letting everyone who wants to come in :) 

What are your thoughts on the festival in general and how do you feel about being a part of it this year?

I remember being there in 2017 and feeling overwhelmed with the amount of things happening and the hard work it takes as artists to get people come see our work and deliver each day for almost a month. That being said, I feel much more confident going this time around having experienced it previously and now coming with a fantastic team of creators and friends to share this story.

Why is this an important story to tell?

It's important to bring forward the poetry behind living, aging and how many lives fit in one body. There are so many experiences and a journey to be cherished rather than seeing it as the end of a life. It is really rare to talk about being old. Nobody wants to talk about that, people want to remain forever young, but what is it that makes us old? Is it having grey hair? Is it being over 50? 60? 70? 100? Or is it the moment we take life too seriously to have a laugh?

How do you feel about the current arts landscape in your country and your part in it? Does it excite you and inspire you to keep pushing the boat out?

I haven’t lived in my home country for some time now but I do know where my roots are and I constantly have the urge to go back and share my work there. Mexico is a place that excites me and, as revered film director Luis Buñuel said, a place to be inspired by its surrealism. If you are into humour, the absurd, comedy, or all of the above, this place is heaven! I’m fascinated by the possibilities one has to transform and reinvent oneself with such freedom. There's always a way of inventing the world you envisioned, with more work and less money but tenfold more wit and spontaneity. In a way, in Mexico, there’s always room for improvising and that makes me happy.

What’s next for you and how are you feeling about the future in general?

Next, I continue touring with Julieta, my previous work Perhaps, Perhaps… Quizás, The Silence of Sound and taking time to be in my garden and keep daydreaming in the woods. 

How can Edinburgh audiences keep up with you beyond the festival?

You can find me on social media: Instagram and Facebook.