The best independent theater productions in Buenos Aires

Written and directed by Javier Daulte. Starring: Ramiro Delgado, Luciana Grasso, Silvina Katz, Paula Manzone, Agustín Meneses, Marcelo Pozzi, William Prociuk, and María Villar.

Berta, a disturbed young woman, is sure she hears the voice of her dead mother in the basement of her house. Her older siblings have yet to fully accept her mental state. Her former nanny, a far-right deputy, an old national rock legend, and her sidekick complete the family circle.

Meanwhile, Olaf, a scrupleless Swede, arrives in Argentina with a curious device that he claims can recover the sounds produced throughout the history of humanity. Conflicting interests, crossed passions, and twisted ideologies will entangle all the characters in the ambitious Swede's web.

El Sonido is a comedy that explores the boundaries between the real and the imagined and the relationship we establish with the truth.

Highlight: The construction of spaces and objects through sounds.

Where: Humahuaca 3759, Espacio Callejón. Tuesdays at 8 pm. Tickets.

Written by Daniel Casablanca, Sebastián Irigo, Martín Salazar, Gabriel Wolf, and Marcelo Xicarts. Directed by Sebastián Irigo. Starring Salazar, Wolf, and Xicarts.

Los Macocos, a theater company with a long history, bring to life four wandering jesters in the Middle Ages. After hardships across Europe, they arrive in Denmark dreaming that the great Yorick, the jester of the Elsinore court, will receive them and provide them with work, housing, and food, but they arrive too late. However, they manage to enter the castle, though not at the best time either: the king has been murdered, his brother has taken the throne, and married his sister-in-law. Our beloved jesters then find themselves in the service of none other than the most famous prince in theater history. Maten a Hamlet is neither a version nor a parody. It's an entirely new play that tells the B-side of the well-known tragedy.

Highlight: Los Macocos are a theatrical company of extensive, proven, and recognized trajectory. It’s always good to see them again.

Where: Maza 177, Hasta Trilce. Saturdays at 9 pm. Tickets.

Written by Javier Berdichesky and Andrés Gallina. Directed by Anahí Berneri. Starring Sofía Gala, Marita Ballesteros, Enrique Amido, and Camila Marino Alfonsín.

Lo que se pierde se tiene para siempre is a performance based on short stories by Alejandra Kamiya. A mother is lost in something unspoken. In his carpentry shop, a father seems to have never touched anything as tenderly as his woods. Like a bridge, the daughter walks the eight blocks separating her parents’ houses, carrying pots of food, photos, furniture, envelopes with money. What she attempts is marathon-like: to unite the parts into which her life has divided.

Highlight: It tackles a universal theme, with a dramaturgy that arises from narrative and an appealing cast.

Where: Santos Dumont 4040, Dumont 4040. Thursdays 5th and 19th at 10:30 pm. Friday 6th at 8 pm. Saturday 7th at 8:30 pm. Fridays 13th, 20th, and 27th at 8 pm and 10:30 pm. Tickets.

Written and directed by María Marull. Starring Agustina Cabo, Julia Catala, Mercedes Moltedo, and Julián Rodríguez Rona.

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Selva and her enigmatic partner, Horacio, arrive from the big city to this remote town in Corrientes in search of a miracle. They stay at a modest hotel run by Celina, the owners' daughter, and Celeste, her teenage friend, who embroiders day and night in the hotel's patio to finish her carnival costume. Celina is studying to enter university and leave town; Hernán, her brother, has already left but returns to participate in the Compuesto Correntino contest at the La Pilarcita festival.

When Selva realizes that, according to tradition, one must offer a specially made doll before asking for a miracle, she hires Celeste to help her make it. As the entire town prepares to honor the popular saint, Selva and Celeste will forge a strange friendship that will change their destinies.

Highlight: In its tenth season, this play remains a gem of the independent theater scene.

Where: Mario Bravo 960, El Camarín de las Musas. Fridays at 8 pm and 10 pm. Tickets.

Dramaturgy and direction by Lisandro Fiks. Starring Romina Fernandes, Francisco Lumerman, Catherine Biquard, Guillermo Aragonés, Martina Zalazar, and Lisandro Fiks himself.

Qué hermoso era todo antes is a free version of The Seagull by Chekhov. The play is inspired by that classic to bring to life six characters set in our geography. With humor and insight, it reflects on art and everyday life. The play revisits the aesthetic of the famous playwright to capture the complexity of its characters.

Time is a fundamental theme in this piece: life passes, dreams remain unfulfilled, and the choices they make lead the characters down unwanted paths. No one is happy with their present; they all feel victims of a destiny that mocks them.

Highlight: The comedic tone that Fiks has infused into the production.

Where: Ramírez de Velazco 535, Moscú Teatro. Sundays at 5 pm. Tickets.

Directed by Helena Tritek. Starring Fito Yannelli, Silvina Quintanilla, Milagros Almeida, Julieta Raponi, and Miguel Ale Granado.

La Vaca Atada portrays part of the country's history. It takes place in the golden 1920s when Argentine aristocratic families traveled and spent long seasons in Paris. The play is set on the luxurious transatlantic liner Comte de Biancamano, where passengers share the journey with the country's most famous singer. In the ship's hold, a cow and chickens travel under the care of a laborer, so the children have fresh milk and eggs. The servants work meticulously, and the patrons lead an intense and busy social life.

Highlight: Helena Tritek is an actress, teacher, and director with 50 years of experience, having successfully worked in film, theater, radio, and television.

Where: Sánchez de Bustamante 1034, El Portón de Sánchez. Sundays at 6 pm. Tickets.

Directed by Oscar Barney Finn. Starring Osvaldo Santoro and Paulo Brunetti.

La lluvia seguirá cayendo is a play that explores the reunion between a father (Santoro) and son (Brunetti) in a painting studio in Buenos Aires. Set in a present marked by crisis, the play presents a meeting postponed for 20 years, full of absences, memories, and unresolved tensions between the characters. The dialogue between father and son reveals the emotional distance that has emerged between them over the years, as well as each one’s internal struggle to face their past and reconcile with the present.

It addresses themes such as family, identity, art, and the search for truth, as the characters try to understand each other and rebuild their relationship amid the complexity of their lives.

Highlight: Based on the characters from Lejana tierra mía, a beautiful play by Eduardo Rovner.

Where: Guardia Vieja 3556, Beckett Teatro. Saturdays at 6:30 pm. Duration: 70 minutes. Tickets.

Written by Mauricio Dayub and directed by Luis Romero. Starring Dayub and Gustavo Luppi.

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El Pájaro and Lopecito find a common goal and risk everything they have to achieve it. Together, they produce a miracle: making one’s dream become the dream of the other. Friendship, passion, and giving your life without expecting anything in return—that is the essence of El Amateur, segunda vuelta.

The characters try to survive while simultaneously striving to fulfill their dreams: one aims to succeed as a tango singer, while the other seeks to win a cycling championship.

Highlight: This show premiered in 1997, and it was so impactful that a film adaptation of the same name was directed by Juan Bautista Stagnaro.

Where: Nicaragua 5565, Chacarerean Teatre. Thursdays at 8 pm. Tickets.

Written by Florencia Naftulewicz and directed by Francisco Lumerman. Starring Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Florencia Naftulewicz.

Renzo, a widower, has shut himself in his home, unwilling to see anyone. His daughter Julieta decides to stay for a weekend in her father’s apartment. Quieto tells the story of a father and daughter who, in their reunion, will discover how far they are willing to go for each other. She returns to rescue him from his cave of memories. An accumulation of unspoken words will attempt to express the unnameable.

Highlight: Miguel Ángel Rodríguez in a role different from what we are used to seeing.

Where: J. Ramírez de Velasco 419, NÜN Teatro Bar. Fridays at 9 pm and Saturdays at 6 pm. Tickets.

Written by Enrique Papatino. Directed by Emiliano Samar. Starring Yamila Ulanovsky and Mateo Chiarino.

The year is 1968. A journalist informs his wife that the next morning he will duel with swords against a military officer who challenged him. An unusual internal earthquake in a marriage leads to a comedy where the absurd and the profound blend.

The action takes place the night before the duel, revealing an intense conversation between the journalist and his wife, who desperately tries to prevent her husband from putting his life at risk. How far is it valid to defend dignity and a good name? What are the limits of what can be asked of a couple when their "honor" is at stake? Where does the game end, and where does love begin?

Highlight: El arte de esgrimir is a play inspired by a real event.

Where: Lavalle 3636, Teatro del Pueblo. Saturdays at 10 pm. Tickets.