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BUENOS AIRES (Argentina). When the snow lashed down on Tres Lagos , a town deep in Patagonia, three children gathered in the warmth of a 1990s-era home to dance cumbias. They fought off the frost by swaying their bodies, while "Ni de piedra ni de madera" by Los Cartageneros played in the background. At 18, one of them, Martín, decided to migrate to Buenos Aires. Gaby and Nayla underwent their gender transitions and stayed in that town in the province of Santa Cruz—which then had fewer than 200 inhabitants and today has fewer than 500. There they built their homes—refuges—and experienced love and heartbreak.

The house and the body

Three and a half decades later, at Espacio Tole Tole Teatro , in the popular and cosmopolitan hub of the Once shopping district (Buenos Aires), another kind of community is being built—a refuge and a balm in times of crisis. Martín Marcou directs the play * My Heart Is Not Made of Stone or Wood* . Premiering in September, it will run until November. Starring Morena Berenise Torres (Morena Yfran), Facundo Tomás, and Cris Bernal Niño, it is a tribute to Martín's friends. The play portrays the daily life of Gaby, a trans woman living in a town in southern Patagonia, and her relationships with those around her: a estranged mother, a beloved dog, her occasional husband who is a foreman for a local asphalt company, and Jairo, a traveler she has just met.

“One of the questions I asked myself while writing this play was why they decided to stay in Tres Lagos . Their homes are very important both as physical spaces and as territories for developing their identities, the place where they take root. Their way of being in the world, by staying there, is eminently political. The strongest political action is simply to exist ,” Marcou shared in a conversation with Presentes at the theater she inaugurated in 2013.

“We migrate to big cities in search of answers.”

“ Many of us migrated to big cities in search of answers. Most of us were expelled from our homes for being part of a sexual dissidence. We had to rebuild our identities ,” Marcou explained.

The work focuses on love and heartbreak in southern Patagonia , where towns receive visits from men traveling for work, and, far from family expectations, other possibilities emerge. “ There was something in that dynamic of encountering bodies where the issue of gender and sexual identities was transcended. They allowed themselves to be with a trans woman or a gay man. There was something that prevailed, something related to desire. I found it fascinating that you allowed that to circulate,” Marcou confessed.

When Morena read the script for the play, she didn't hesitate. "I was interested in the fact that it was a love story," shared the actress from the trans collective who plays Gaby. Morena is 54 years old and is from the town of Bernal in Buenos Aires province, where she decided not to migrate, but to stay. 

“We long to have someone who loves us. But we also ask ourselves—and we’re still working on it—how do we lower our guard a little and say , well, yes, there are people who love us, who fall in love with us ? History has always portrayed us as consumers. We’ve heard it so many times, since we were so little, that we even believe that story ourselves. So when someone approaches us who truly wants to share something, we say, ‘ He’s crazy, he’s lying, ’” the actress said about the romantic experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.

Gaby and Nayla, from friends to celebrities

Located amidst the harsh steppe grasslands and a cold, dry climate, the town of Tres Lagos comprises seven blocks along Route 40, at kilometer 765. Founded in 1937, its name refers to the crossroads leading to Lakes Viedma, Tar, and San Martín. According to the last census in 2022, it has 408 inhabitants. 

Gaby, who inspired the work, recently retired after working for the municipality. Nayla Fernández—who, along with Martín and Gaby, formed the childhood friendship trio—is the first transgender person to serve as Commissioner of Development for Tres Lagos .

“Now we have the internet, there’s another level of communication and access to information, but back then, one of them was getting hormones by mail . She would go to El Calafate, 160 kilometers away, to pick them up,” Martín commented. His theatrical aim was to show other configurations surrounding the trans universe that were different from those that exist in the city .

“These aren’t the girls who go out into the streets of big cities holding up signs. They were fighting their battles, but in a small town. It’s very different, neither better nor worse, and it’s good that this is being seen. These stories, these lives exist, they have value. I wanted to tell them through theater ,” she explained.

Real lives

Morena Yfran gets up early every day to go to the National Congress in Buenos Aires. She works in security. Sometimes she gets emotional and thinks, "I have a job thanks to my colleagues." Since the Transgender Employment Quota Law was passed , she can be herself at work. In her previous jobs, she had to dress as a man . For her, it's a great challenge to portray another trans woman who is independent, has her own home, and her own job. Every day of the week, she eagerly awaits Saturday to perform.

From a young age, she knew she wanted to act. “My mom danced, my dad painted. I dabbled in art. I loved to dance, I did shows, plays at school. I'd get into any little place to perform,” she recalled.

For her, art is a “fundamental pillar through which we express ourselves and feel.” “Not giving space to art is to stagnate, to hurt ourselves. Neither the community nor the people who love art will allow it, so we will continue fighting,” she reflected, in relation to the current situation of cuts and censorship in Argentine culture .

“ Besides being a balm, art is a space where you generate thought and research in terms of acting . Meanwhile, you reflect on the current situation and build responses for survival through encounter. We in our community know a lot about that. Everything that's happening is very intense, and here we are, doing theater as a response, however we can,” Marcou concluded.

"My Heart Is Not Made of Stone or Wood" is presented on Saturdays at 9 PM at Espacio Tole Tole Teatro (Pasteur 683, CABA). Tickets can be purchased through Alternativa .