Blessed with stunning good looks and colouring, her dark olive skin showing off her penetrating green eyes, she knew since she was a child that she wanted to be a performer, already playing at being an actress within her own home: -
“It’s easy as a child to dream, to play at being a grown up with accessories that are not yet allowed and present yourself to your own family and get their applause. That was the best stimulus that I had for that inner flame to never to be blown out, but to grow and become a reality. I never wanted anything else, I always dreamed of being an actor.”
Ibarra did not have to wait long as her first opportunity arose when she was only 13 years of age in a play directed by Gustavo Rodríguez. She was soon picked up by RCTV (Radio Caracas Television), to be a model for the 5- hour programme “Super Sensational Saturdays” (Súper Sábado Sensacional). From there she moved onto the telenovelas where she found her niche. A versatile actress, she was able to play very different roles with equal conviction.
She began to make her name playing ‘Tomasa’ in the successful “Cristal” in 1986-1988, which had 246 episodes. A telenovela is not like a soap in that it is not open-ended. It has a beginning, a middle and an ending, more like an extended serial. These productions are hugely popular in Latin America and people are glued to their boxes, perhaps like a Latin Downton Abbey! Ibarra’s fame grew with her role of Patria Mía in ‘COSITA RICA’ and Eloína Rangel in POR ESTAS CALLES (In these streets). Explaiing her bond with the character of Eloína Rangel, Ibarra said:
“My career was split in two with this role of Eloína. Her experiences were so close to the reality lived by so many people that they felt that every tear that she shed was theirs. She represented ‘woman’ in every way!”
Much of Ibarra's early work was for RCTV (Radio Caracas Television). This Radio and TV station was started in 1953 by William Phelps Jr, but on May 27th 2007, the Chávez government refused to renew their terrestrial licence, blaming the station for playing a part in the attempted coup against the goverment in 2002. It moved to requisition all the Radio and TV stations in order to broadcast non-stop speeches by President Chávez and his supporters. RCTV chose to broadcast their own news simultaneously, all the same, on ‘split’ screens, showing demonstrations being broken up and people being arrested, while on the other side of the screen, President Chávez continued with his speeches.
It was not the first time the station had been reprimanded for their views.
In 1980, the station had been taken off air because their current affairs programme ALERTA had shown a controversial report about a children’s mental hospital. RCTV was forced off the air at other times as well, for screening cigarette ads in defiance of a government decree and for including “risqué and sensationalist’ images on screen.
Their appeal failed and they became a satellite and cable channel instead, losing much of their ground to their main rival ‘Venevision’, who went along with the government’s ideas. It was then, between 2009 and 2010, that ‘Venevision’ produced another hit for Gledys Ibarra.
Gledys Ibarra and Carlos Montilla in Tomasa Tequiero 2009
Gledys was the protagonist of TOMASA TEQUIERO, a telenovela created by Doris Degui and directed by César Bolívar. In the story, she was baptized Tomasa Tequiero because, when she was born, her mother could not think of any other name. She starred with Carlos Montilla. Tomasa is the simple and unassuming maid and nanny of the Paredes family. When they suddenly die, she discovers she is to inherit a fortune and becomes a millionaire overnight. Needless to say, things do not go smoothly for Tomasa who then watches her own family and friends disintegrating around her as their greed changes their behaviour for the worse.
Although she does not consider herself an activist, Ibarra got involved in some political campaigning in Venezuela, when she backed the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. She says she wanted to support a candidate who wanted a ‘different Venezuela’.
“We should not need to be political… we need medicine but it’s not here… when you need to break up a reunion before sundown because everyone is scared to be out in the dark, then you know that we now want a better Venezuela, so we’re obliged to take a political stance. Those who are managing the destiny of my country are failing in their task… we are facing a monster of a thousand heads, and a brave man is prepared to face it to find the Venezuela that we seek. In the same way that Maduro is not Chávez, Capriles is not Caldera nor CAP”.
Gledys Ibarra at a campaign rally
But Gledys' reasons for leaving Venezuela were not only political: -
“It was a decision based on love. I am married to an Englishman. At the same time, it was strange, in reference to my own career, as I was arriving in a place where every actor wishes to be, the theatrical mecca: London! The cradle of the greatest dramatists, the home of the master of the masters Shakespeare, of the most renowned actors with a history of excellent interpretations… which was also terrifying. Thank God that I have had a solid academic training and a career that has been proven not only in my own country, but around the world. So, although it’s logical to feel the fear, there is also the wonderful energy that is there, when you honour that which you do and have always done in your life.”
Ibarra was unable to answer when asked if she had had a favourite role. She maintains that they are all special: -
“Every role has a special value. Each one marks a time in my life with how the public received those characters, touching their emotions until they became dear to them.”
Nevertheless, there are characters that marked significant changes in her career. Like the slave of POBRE NEGRO, Eloína Rangel in POR ESTAS CALLES, Patria Mía in COSITA RICA, the she- Devil in CIUDAD BENDITA, or even Luna Camachoc in AMORES DE FIN DE SIGLO.
But it was a movie, not a TV telenovela that gave her a chance to receive her first international award as ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at the 1995 Tokyo International Film Festival for her role as Carlota in SICARIO (1994) directed by José Novoa. She is particularly proud of that award in that she knew she was up against actresses from Hollywood. SICARIO was also submitted as the Venezuelan entry for Best Foreign Language Film vying for an award both at the Oscars and the Goyas.
When she first arrived in the UK, she was feeling apprehensive, as she explains: -
“No matter how well prepared you are professionally, when something as important as love in your life brings you back to a completely new starting point, back to zero, you are full of fears. You don’t know this new challenge that you’re facing, even if you know that you have the tools at hand.”
Ibarra has not had an easy time in her life, she lost her beloved daughter Sugar, to cancer just as she was enjoying her own success. Her eyes still show her pain which will never leave her entirely, she had to dig deep to recover from those sad times and understands the ironies of life: -
“Just when the caterpillar thought that her life had ended, she began to fly.”
Her first big role in Europe was as Kassandra in ‘The Immigrant’. It played in Paris and London to raise money for charity. Touching on her own experience, she can see how it reflects on the universal experience of someone starting a new life in a foreign country. Kassandra is a brave fighter. After trying to make her life in her own country she decides she has to leave in search of a better future. ‘The Immigrant’ is an adaptation of the successful play “Venezolanos Desesperados” (Desperate Venezuelans), both written by Daniel Ferrer Cubillán.
“This text has a lot in common with Venezuelans who find themselves out of their own country at this moment… and even those who are still there, as they find themselves in a land that is completely unrecognizable to them. This play invites the viewer to look through an opening into the life of an actress trying to achieve something outside of her own country… with a different culture, with different laws and traditions, so that it’s hard to adapt to that challenging situation… and all seen through they eyes of an actress… it’s hard, nostalgic but entertaining, as it’s about how we, the Latinos, and above all the Venezuelans, face difficult situations, with humour.”
The other important role she has played was HARRIET in Juan Mayorga’s superb “Darwin’s Tortoise” for which she was awarded a well-deserved LUKAS AWARD for Best Actress.
The opportunity to play that role was almost by chance. Shortly after arriving in London, she received an invitation to audition for the Federico García Lorca play “The House of Bernarda Alba”. Knowing the play well, she turned up and later discovered that in reality, they had already cast the play, but having heard she was in London, wanted to meet her for possible future productions. This was the ‘Cervantes Theatre’ and it was not long before they sent her the libretto for the role of Harriet in “Darwin’s Tortoise”.
Juan Mayorga, the Madrid born playwright who wrote “Darwin’s Tortoise” was particularly effusive in his appreciation of her interpretation of the role: -
“We can feel that she is vulnerable… a being who evolved into a woman through the blows of history. It is totally impossible and yet we are still moved, It’s a miracle! This is a play that touches on nature’s vengeance on humanity, an uprising of nature with the total humanization of animals.”
Even Ibarra echoes: -
“… full of 200 years of the history of Europe, it contains passages that are really profound, dark and convincing.”
It is the story of a tortoise named Harriet, one of three tortoises that Darwin brought back to England from The Galapagos Islands in 1835. In reality, Harriet the tortoise lived till she was 176, but in the play, she has lived a lot longer than that, assimilating the history of mankind in Europe to the point that she has morphed into a woman, if with a rather tough texture on her back.
The story of the play revolves around Harriet, who, nearing her 200th birthday, wishes to be taken back to the Galapagos Islands. She approaches a Professor, his wife and a doctor for help in undertaking that voyage, only to find that they, unfortunately, decide that they have more to gain from exploiting Harriet for their own ends.
Directed by Paula Paz, this play, performed on alternate days in English and in Spanish, was delightful in both languages, and Ibarra excelled in the Spanish version. Her comic timing is unparalleled and her husky voice ideally suited to the elements of sadness and pain that also permeated the work.
Gledys Ibarra is now very busy with a new project: Creating ‘THE LATIN STAGE’, a theatre workshop for children between the ages of 10 and 16. Her deep love for children has given fruit to this wonderful idea. It will open in March 2019 on Saturdays, based at the Cinema Museum in Lambeth, South London and will run for three months.
“This workshop for children will be my little silver goblet. I love the fact that the children will be able to enjoy something as marvellous as fantasy made reality before their eyes, and they will be assimilating important values like friendship, respect, helping others, family and many other things, all the while enjoying themselves while they learn, singing and laughing. This began as an intensely personal activity for me.
The stories that I have written started as tales for my grandchildren…One day I realized that there was a format that I knew well and that was theatrical production, so I decided to take the stories onto the stage and they became plays. One has already been performed in Miami for four seasons: “The Chocolate Tree”. Another: “The Flight of the Butterflies, was produced in Caracas and “Andresito, the Boy Spy and the Case of the Broken Toy”, was nominated for an Assitej International Award in Spain… I adore teaching and am passionate about contributing what I know from a lifetime of study and experience… I want to help those who are interested in discovering what they carry inside of themselves, to be able to bring it out in the service of Art.
All people need the theatre, music, laughter and a moment of reflection about our very essence, to reach who we are.”
Review ‘Darwin’s Tortoise’: http://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/la-tortuga-de-darwin-cervantes-the…
THE LATIN STAGE: Theatre Workshop for children aged 10-16, thelatinstage@gmail.com Cinema Museum 2, Dugard Way, Lambeth. London SE11 3TH
