For years Nicanor Parra has kept silent. Then, some months ago, his poetry was heard again in Chile. The occasion was a theatrical performance based on his work called Hojas de Parra—or Pages from Parra. It opened on February 24 in a circus tent erected in Providencia, a residential section of Santiago. Subtitled "A Fatal Leap in One Act," it was a collage of circus and theatre, poetry reading and happening, deriving from his poems, some of them never before heard in public.

Two Chilean actors, José Manuel Salcedo and Jaime Vadell, were responsible for the production. Salcedo described it in the newspaper El Cronista as "an experimental work which tries to resolve scenically the metaphysical problem that lies between life and death." But with the actors dressed as clowns, trapeze artists and jugglers, a good deal of humor also made its way into the performance. Parra's satirical skills emerge in scenes such as one devoted to an imaginary political rally in a Presidential campaign. The name of the candidate is Nadie (Nobody), and here are some of the slogans and responses by his supporters as reported in the magazine Ercilla:

     Nobody will put an end to inflation
     Nobody will fix the balance of payments
     Nobody will respect our rights
     Who will realize our dreams?
                     Nobody
     Who really says what he thinks?
                     Nobody
     Who really thinks what he says?
                     Nobody
     Who will give us a raise?
                     Nobody
     Who will lower the rents?
                     Nobody
     Who will increase production?
                     Nobody
     Let's every one vote for Nobody
     Elect Nobody
     Nobody for President

The scene closes with a sardonic echo of the Cuban revolutionary slogan: "Ambiguidad o muerte, ¡Venceremos!"—"Ambiguity or death. We shall overcome!"

Pages from Parra also contains a scene in which the playing space for a circus act is gradually reduced as grave diggers bring in corpses for burial and set up gravestones and crosses in the arena. There is a banquet in honor of the Unknown Poet which also involves invocations and responses. It begins with a roll call for dead poets but soon leads to other things:

      Gabriela Mistral?
                          Present
      Pablo Neruda?
                          Present
      Filet mignon with mushrooms?
                          Absent
      A political constitution for the state?
                          We'll see about it.
      Human rights?
                          Present
      Rights for humans?
                          Absent

Pages from Parra, whose Spanish title is also a play on words that can be translated best as "Fig Leaves," was attended by many notables, including the former minister of education, the former Mayor of Santiago and the former rector of the University of Chile. The reviewer in El Cronista noted that whether one liked it or not, "no one could be indifferent to it." The notices were mixed, but the consensus of those interviewed alter the opening night production was that "the play not only made them laugh, it made them think."

One notable exception to the generally favorable reception of the piece was published in the newspaper La Tercera under a page-one headline that read: "Infamous Attack on the Government." The reviewer asserted that the production was "a clear message of criticism of the present government" and said that it was "not constructive but Sibylline criticism." He revealed his own political point of view by putting in a good word for the regime, for he noted that "the fact that this work was presented shows once more that there is liberty in Chile."

According to Ercilla, this hostile review made the production. Thousands of people began to buy tickets and Pages from Parra became an overnight hit. On March 1, Las Ultimas Noticias observed that the negative review had created a storm, but quoted Salcedo and Vadell as saying they had no intention of attacking the junta. Four days later the Mayor of Providencia renewed the play's license, but a few hours thereafter the theatre was closed under orders of the National Health Service. El Mercurio explained that the circus tent had been shut down because of a lack of toilets, washrooms and fire extinguishers. For its part, La Tercera quoted the head of the Health Service as saying that "if the sanitary requirements are met, the tent theatre will reopen."

On March 11, El Mercurio announced that the sanitary objections had been met and that the play was reopening, but next day the Mayor of Providencia reversed his position and revoked the license. According to La Tercera, he explained that the neighbors had objected to "the offensive allusions to the government that appear in the work." He was also reported as saying that "possible hostile demonstrations" might take place and have "lamentable consequences." This reasoning was questioned by Que Pasa which observed that demonstrations of all kinds were forbidden in Chile.

At that point in the debate, all verbal arguments became academic: at 2:30 in the morning of March 12, well after the curfew, two unknown men drove up and threw gasoline bombs at the tent. Within a few minutes it was in flames. Firemen arrived and managed to put out the fire, but not before the theatre was half-destroyed. Two newspapers claimed that members of the company had set the fire, but with financial losses estimated at $15,000, most of the other papers agreed with Ercilla that it was an act of arson by hostile persons.

On March 17, Que Pasa printed an interview with José Manuel Salcedo. He said that the fire which finally closed the theatre had given it "a solemnity that goes with historic works of art." Next day, President Pinochet himself observed in another context that legal means must always be employed "to prevent irresponsible or subversive actions by those who, consciously or unconsciously, are capable of bringing about a return of chaos."