Sutottos: Comedies that are, deep down, small tragedies

The winter chill does not deter the audience filling the Teatro Picadero on a Saturday afternoon. As the duo Sutottos takes the stage in colorful costumes and surreal blonde wigs, the humor is already set: Andrés Caminos and Gadiel Sztryk play twin siblings turning 40 and still living in their mother's house. To fulfill the mandate of being happy, they repeat phrases like “live, laugh, love, dream” or “a day without a smile is a day lost.” With wit, the actors transform self-help slogans into mantras that are both uncomfortable and amusing.

Emerging from the off-theater scene two decades ago, Sutottos gained recognition with "Inestable" (2015), which explored fears and phobias, a success that led to several tours in Spain. Now, with "Feliz día," they are raising the stakes and solidifying their status as a public hit. Through psychological humor, with characters as tormented as they are lovable, they construct a fierce satire on the "should be" and the anxiety of fitting in, always driven by the absurd. The play connects immediately with spectators: for an hour, laughter acts as a cathartic element in the room, where it's impossible not to recognize oneself in the protagonists.

A few days after the performance, in the calm of a Villa Crespo café, the atmosphere is different. The characters' adrenaline gives way to the introspection of their creators, who appear relaxed and open to conversation. For the duo, who started long ago in basements performing theatrical numbers, "Feliz día" represents their most mature work. "I think it has elements that tie everything together and affect us all: from the pain of growing up to the bond anyone has with their mother," explains Gadiel Sztryk.

But what underlies the show is the imposition of happiness and the pressure to enjoy oneself at all costs, a demand amplified on a birthday. "Whenever we start creating a play, a theme motivates us. And one of the questions we asked ourselves was: who is so vehemently demanding that we be happy? We like to make comedies that, in the end, are small tragedies. Trying to be happy is an impossible task. That's why, in "Feliz día," there's a mix of things we observe, that happen to us, or that don't exist and we invented," analyzes Andrés Caminos. "Mothers come and tell us: 'You are just like my sons.' And I think: 'They're doomed!'" the actors laugh.