Argentine Open Theatre

Many of the playwrights prominent in this movement were also politically opinionated, and their plays' left-leaning subtext were frowned upon by powerful figures in the Argentine military and the publishing sector, alike.

They purchased a shuttered sparkplug factory on Santos Discépolo Way (a pedestrianized backstreet in the crowded Balvanera district of Buenos Aires) into the "Picadero Theatre."

Honored by the presence and support of Nobel laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and writer Ernesto Sábato, the group announced, in a May 12, 1981, press conference, the establishment of the Teatro Abierto Argentino - the "Argentine Open Theatre.

[3] They premiered their first festival on July 28, 1981, featuring Cossa's Gris de ausencia (Pale of Absence), Dragún's Mi obelisco y yo (My Obelisk and Me), and Gorostiza's El acompañamiento (The Entourage) among the evening's repertoire.

During an August 6 performance, however, three fire bombs were set off in the theatre, casting doubts on the company's viability (the incident remains one of Argentina's best-known "unsolved mysteries").

Controversy ensued, however, when a number of well-known directors' works were passed over, notably Pacho O'Donnell's; negative national sentiment on the heels of the disastrous Falklands War helped further dampen interest in the season, which closed in November.