Rehearsed readings of five plays written by Chilean playwrights are staged to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1973 military coup that overthrew Salvador Allende’s democratic government.

Ñuke (Mother): 10 September 21:00
Set in Chile’s rural south, David Arancibia Urzua’s play tells the story of a mother who witnesses her native Mapuche community demonised, her family invaded and her way of life threatened by the unrelenting outside world.

The Red Set: 11 September 20:00
Translated by Simon Scardifield, Florencia Martínez Echevarría’s play charts the story of a woman in a coma, with her dutiful family watching over her. As the weeks pass and sibling rivalry, political guilt and economic worries build up, her hospital bed becomes both a refuge and prison for her fretful children.

Negra, The General’s Nurse: 12 September 21:00
Bosco Israel Cayo Álvarez’s play Negra, The General’s Nurse tells the story of a nurse who finds refuge in the northern mountains of her birth where she is reunited with her family. As she tries to forge a new life for herself, it becomes apparent that the vengeance of a society is difficult to escape.

Chan!: 13 September 21:00
Written by Camila Le-Bert’s, Chan! tells the tale of two Chilean graduates who fall in love while studying in New York. When they return to their lives in Santiago, the pair struggles to adapt to adulthood as the fast-changing skyline goes against the city’s history and what once made sense in Brooklyn appears flawed in the shadow of the Andes.

That Thing I Never Shared With You: 14 September 14:00
Claudia Hidalgo’s play charts the story of a father and daughter reunited over breakfast. While her son gets ready for a school day that he will miss yet again, the daughter explains the reason behind her isolation, little does she know that her confession will reveal painful secrets from the past.

With the exception of The Red Set, all plays have been translated by William Gregory.