The Corner of the Dead: A Peruvian community’s memory, traditions presented in Bucharest performances

The Corner of the Dead (El Rincón de los Muertos), a production created by Sebastián Rubio and Yanira Dávila and performed by Ricardo Bromley, will be presented in Bucharest this month as part of Arcub’s International Theatre Season.

Inspired by the personal history of a Peruvian actor and the memory of a community scarred by violence, the production combines documentary theatre, dance and traditional song “in an artistic experience where personal testimony meets collective memory.”

Conceived in 2022, amid the social protests in Peru, the project was developed by Sebastián Rubio and Yanira Dávila after the two artists were selected for the development program of the Lima Performing Arts Festival (FAE Lima). Drawing on contemporary events that brought the relationship between history, identity and collective memory back into focus, the production took shape as an artistic exploration of the Ayacucho region, told through the personal story of actor Ricardo Bromley.

A theatre and film actor as well as a danzante de tijeras – a traditional performer of the Scissors Dance, an expression of Peru's cultural heritage – Ricardo Bromley places his own family history at the heart of the performance.

Directed by Sebastián Rubio, a Peruvian artist whose work focuses on documentary and testimonial theatre, together with Yanira Dávila, the production brings the memory of the Ayacucho region to the forefront. The area has a rich cultural and spiritual heritage, and its name derives from the Quechua words aya (“death”) and kuchu (“corner”), translating as “corner of the dead.”

“Beyond its historical context, The Corner of the Dead is a story about how the past shapes our present, the legacy we inherit from previous generations and the possibility of looking at history from different perspectives,” a presentation of the project reads.

The project’s first version premiered in 2024 at the Mirada Festival in São Paulo. The final version was presented in Lima in 2025, followed by appearances at international festivals in Chile and Ecuador in 2026.

The two performances in Bucharest are scheduled for November 14 and November 15. The November 14 performance will be followed by an Artist to Artist Q&A session, moderated by director and playwright Radu Apostol.