The quote is in Plateruena, as it is evident that it has become a place full of meaning for Lasarguren and Lagoma. Beyond rehearsing and premiering the Plateru itself, the theatre has a deeper link to the show they have created: These are two brothers from Durango who made themselves known to Plateru's nickname. To this day, very few people know them in the village. “In Durango we have the Plateruena Theatre or the Plateros Square, although most Durangueses know nothing about them. Many don’t even know who they were,” says Lasarguren. Lagoma also agrees: “I am a teacher and I am convinced that if you ask the students, most would not recognize them.”

The trade of Platero was called Plateru to Antonio de la Fuente Bolanjero (1757-1834) and Juan Cruz de la Fuente Bolanjero (1760-1831). However, they weren't famous for growing silver. Juan Cruz was a skilled co-driver and musician, while Antonio was a skilled dancer and these skills became familiar in and around the town. Being of txistu, bertso, music and dance, they were invited to the parties of the surrounding villages. They have also taken advantage to reclaim their spirit of popular actor for being “very much of the square and closely linked to popular culture”. “We wanted to do something popular, born of the people and for the people. That unites us with them,” explains Lagoma.

It was Lasarguren and Ixone Aroma who began to revolve around the idea of creating the show a year ago. They took ideas from the choreography and contacted Lagoma to propose to them as a writer. Lagoma started spinning the dances with history and gradually the project was taking off. Before they realized it, they already had a great team of work. “We’ve been adding up and in the end we’ve finished preparing the show twenty people from Durango. A lot of young people have taken charge and each one has been a way to grow in their space,” Lagoma rejoices.

Invitation for reflection

Mixing traditional dances and music with contemporaries, the show combines the era of the plateros with that of today. However, beyond making the Dishes known, the creators have had other goals: “We have put forward some reflections, because our intention was not just to tell your life. We wanted to link their lives and our current concerns,” explains Lagoma. Thus, from the stage they have sought to raise several reflections.

The show has as its strength one of the themes that invites reflection: the visibility of women. Far from the concern of its creators, Berlusconi has searched for themes, as during the show they discovered that the plateros were two brothers instead of two, and that they were three brothers. “We started the story with Juan Cruz and Antonio, and when we started documenting ourselves, Marisa Barrena found a text referring to the sister of the plateros,” says Lagoma. “It is a text published in 1818 in France in which you can read how the plateros had a sister of her same mood, who danced with the same peoples,” explains Lasarguren. This is the only text that mentions María Francisca Scholastica (1749), condemned to oblivion by history written by men.

With an exercise in memory, the show pays tribute to the woman Platerua. Lagoma gives voice to Scholastica: “I sing as if it were her, but at the end of the day I sing through many women’s mouths about care. It's a topic that worries me, because this world doesn't work without care. The point is that many times caregivers are not usually cared for, and I think Scholastica was not very careful either”.

They also wanted to put the theme of the Basque Country in the center of the city, but avoiding making a "permanent reflection". The dishes received Spanish at home, and on their own they learned Basque. Therefore, although it would be easy to say “what majos they were”, they say they wanted to bring the spotlight to our day, to focus on the difficulties that young immigrants come to Euskal Herria to learn the native language. “Last year, at work, I met very closely the case of two immigrants aged 14-15 years. Children under the age of 16 could not go to the Basque Country, and they only had a booster of two hours a week to learn Basque. If we want to learn it is necessary to master the language, not knowing Basque should we deviate in another way? We are all very majos, but who will teach them in Basque?” the question Lagoma has thrown.

On the other hand, attempts have been made to transfer individuals from the banks of the river to the centre. For this purpose they have used a passage of the life of the dishes: In 1828, Spanish King Fernando VII and Queen Maria Josefa Amalia of Saxony visited Durango, where they held a welcoming ceremony. By then, the Platerus were about 70 years old and, according to the chronicles, when dancing the leek, the queen burst of laughter. “On the journey from the Cortes of Madrid to Durango, Amalia laughed carelessly to watch the fat Juan Cruz dance, as chronicles gather,” explains Lasarguren. The careless continued to dance aside as a Platerua model and the “bodies and characters of the banks” have risen to the stage.

Interaction with theatre

In order to ensure the entry into port of work they had in their hands, they decided to join the first session and see the need to work on that date. “Then we said: What better day than the anniversary of Plateruena?” he explains Lagoma.Se they said and did, contacted the members of the theater and decided the date of the first representation n.Adem to offer the stage for the premiere,
Plateruena has also offered them a space to try the show in very advantageous conditions. They are satisfied with the process because they believe it has fed both parties: “Just as the theater has given us a place, we are partners in the theater and we have brought something created by the people of the town to the theater,” explains Lagoma. They hope that the experience has strengthened this exchange between the theater and the people: “Maybe next year other people will be encouraged to do something like that.”