Carlos Hernán Sánchez

“I REALLY ENJOY THEATRE; IT WAS SOMETHING THAT HELPED ME TO ADAPT TO LIFE IN AUSTRALIA”

Carlos Hernàn Sánchez

Country of origin: Colombia

Occupation: Journalist, Radio Presenter, Poetry reader Actor and Theatre Director. State of residency: VIC. Favourite place in Australia: Melbourne. Upon arrival: Surprised by how quiet the city was.

Interviewed by Valeria Silva. Translated by Claire Bower. Edited by Zoe Gleeson.

Carlos Hernán Sánchez’s love of the arts is cross continental. As a boy and young adult growing up in Tolima, Colombia, Carlos gravitated towards theatre. Theatre was a sanctuary amidst the violence of Pablo Escobar’s reign: “I don’t like to do theatre for the sake of just doing it. I like people to perform with their soul, their heart and for people to question”. For Carlos, ‘the show must go on’ whether in Colombia or many kilometres away in Australia. In 1986, he immigrated to Australia, a much quieter, albeit sometimes lonely, home. As a new migrant - whilst navigating learning English, finding community and missing home – theatre was a constant. Firstly, at the Anthill Theatre Company, then Melbourne Workers Theatre Company, followed by SBS radio and finally as the multicultural coordinator for the Centre of the Arts in Victoria.

TELL US YOUR STORY

Carlos with his daughter (present day).

I left Colombia in 1989 as at that time Colombia wasn’t safe and I had one year old daughter. There was a lot of tension and violence due to the war related to Pablo Escobar. My family decided to emigrate to Australia, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to choose Australia out of three destination options. We chose Australia as it seemed as a more interesting country. I didn’t speak English at the time but thought it would be easier than learning Swedish or some other foreign language. From afar, Australia in the 1980s seemed to be open to immigration and didn’t appear to be a country with many social conflicts. The distance from Colombia was one of the only “problems” my family saw. However, after reading books and watching movies, Australia had something magical about it. It offered the possibility to continue a career or do something different, we felt that Australia offered more potential for that than other countries.

It was hard to leave some of my family behind, especially my mother. Immigration wasn’t going to be an easy process for her, to emigrate when you’re older is complicated, it’s harder to learn the language and re-establish yourself in a new place. It always hurts leaving family behind, I’ve never healed from that, it’s really tough. At the time when I emigrated to Australia, it was very expensive to communicate back with loved ones in Colombia; to make a phone call cost a fortune. We used to communicate by sending letters in the mail. I liked writing letters as it was an opportunity to really express myself, a form of communication that is much less common these days.

When I arrived, I didn’t have any idea which planet I had arrived on! The journey was long from Colombia to Australia. We found the city to be calm, a little too quiet. We rented a house in Elwood. When we went out on the weekends into the centre of the city it was a little bit depressing as you didn’t see anybody about. Despite its underwhelming social scene, I preferred Melbourne to being in the dangerous and violent chaos of Colombia during that time. Melbourne didn’t appear to be a city as sophisticated as it is today, it didn’t have so many towers or casinos, life was calm, we didn’t have the problems that we had to deal with daily in Colombia. Coming to Australia, without exaggerating, was like finding paradise.

The first thing I did was learn English, I remember starting at the Myer centre, from there I went to study English for professionals at RMIT (at that time it wasn’t a university). After I studied at Latrobe University and then at Melbourne University. I started to work as I didn’t feel comfortable with receiving the Government benefits. I remember after three months of being in Melbourne, a friend of mine offered me my first job in Australia. From there I began a new career as a cleaner in the city. Some people are embarrassed to say that they mop or do cleaning for a living, however when I emigrated, the pay for these kinds of jobs wasn’t too bad.

One day I saw an ad in a theatre academy saying that they needed people to work there so I went to an audition. It was a challenge as I didn’t understand anything they were saying, when they gave me directions to go to one side of the stage I would go to other! Fortunately, at that audition there was someone there who was watching the way I moved, and how I had professional movements. This person told me to come and have a chat, he asked me what I wanted to do, and I told him I wanted to act or direct. He told me that in that moment there weren’t any opportunities but there potentially would be in the future. He gave me a telephone number for the Anthill Theatre Company (El Hormiguero), which was directed by a French man. I spoke a bit of French, so I went and saw him and gave him a folder of photos and experiences from my time in theatre in Colombia. He looked through it all and then asked me if I had a monologue that I could perform, I said yes, but that it was in Spanish. He told me to do it! He was impressed and offered me a contract to sign then and there! This was how I got my first job as an actor in Australia. This job helped me to speed up learning English which I was studying at the University of Melbourne.

I did three shows with Anthill Theatre Company and after I worked for the Melbourne Workers Theatre Company - opera, and I made my debut in Australian Television. The show aired at 8:00 PM on Sundays. I recall going to the bank one day and the cashier looked at me with surprise and said, “it’s you, from the television!”. I felt like a proper TV star.

At this time, I also established a Spanish theatre group and here was born “La Catapulta”. We performed ten works in Spanish with great reviews and public viewing. We also received support from the Australian government - The Council of the Arts and Arts Victoria to bring to life the projects. I lived and breathed the shows - I wrote, directed and acted in many of them. One of my most memorable nights was when we rented out Saint Francisco’s Church on Lonsdale Street and it was packed to the rafters. It was a magical night of poetry…Silba, Neruda, a marvellous show in the field of poetry. It wasn’t just Spanish speaking people who attended, there were also Anglo Australians. I really enjoy theatre; my dream is to die doing theatre. Theatre was something that helped me to adapt to life in Australia. I truly believe human salvation lies in the arts, whatever type, painting, music, architecture, one of the best things about theatre is that it encompasses all of that into one; it’s the total art form.

I then began working for SBS radio. I participated in an interview process with others and I was selected, they liked the sound of my voice. I created two programs, one about health and the other about culture and both shows had a good audience. I don’t think radio will ever die, I love the radio! it’s the best way to understand what’s out there in the world. Everyone thought that radio would end once we got TV. Radio will be there forever because as human beings, we like to hear a voice, most of the time we don’t know who it is, but our imagination paints the picture of who they are. I think I frauded a few people who had imagined my voice to be connected to someone very different to who I actually am! The radio did a lot for the Spanish speaking community. I really enjoyed working there for the 25 years I was there until I retired.

I also worked as the Multicultural Coordinator for the Centre of the Arts in Victoria. When I began working there it was like a big white dinosaur; whoever or whatever wasn’t Anglo-Saxon was rejected. I opened that door and I created a mini festival and managed to integrate listeners from SBS radio to the Arts Centre; people from India, China… the idea was to bring people and run events and small theatre. I feel I left an important footprint there.

I always had a passion for the arts, ever since I was a young boy, but for me the number one thing is theatre. Theatre is the only thing where when you are performing, you must go on, despite mistakes or the need to stop, you have to find a way to push through and continue - “the show must go on”. I don’t like to do theatre for the sake of just doing it. I like people to perform with their soul, their heart and for people to question.

Carlos at the Radio

CHALLENGES

The trauma of immigration – The trauma that you experience as an immigrant, in an unknown country, in a place where you don’t speak the language and the culture is completely different: It’s a trauma that at first you don’t feel.

Nostalgia & longing - In the fifth year of being in Australia, I felt a nostalgia, a profound longing for the homeland and a desire to return to Colombia. Unfortunately, at the time, the possibility to return didn’t exist. I began to create a new life, my daughter was beginning to grow up, I had a good job and a good future. Despite this I was stuck in a sadness and begun to drink whiskey and dance. The sadness came from inside, a psychological thing. However, a good night of dancing or a party would get rid of the feeling. I prefer this than going to a place where they lock me inside. I prefer to be crazy but free!

Racism - I was once asked to do a Mexican accent for a McDonalds advertisement for fries. I also recall racism when I was doing a casting for a film, I was the only Latino there and a director asked me where I was from - when I replied “Colombia” he asked, “are you the head of a drug cartel?”. On the outside I laughed, but inside I felt sad and angry because I was made to feel like a cliché. The director didn’t value me as an actor, my versatility, my voice, my ability to move. The reality is that it continues to happen today. The clichés are terrible for migrants, they are used to bully and bring down a person until they are at a very low point.

CONTRASTS 

Identity & lifestyle - I feel very proud to be Colombian, but the reality is that life is different between the two countries. After experiencing the violence in the cities in Colombia, it was a contrast arriving to a city where nothing happened. Life in Australia feels too relaxed, it takes it to the extreme which is where the individual loneliness comes from. Australia has many issues that are hidden under the surface; for example, there are problems with mental health.

Privilege - The first time I went to Victoria Market, I was with a friend and saw that the butchers were throwing out a lot of meat, and I thought it was just crazy… a sign of the abundance that existed in Australia at the time. Prices were so cheap, services were provided at a very low or no cost, Australia at this time was a paradise.

Treatment of the elderly - There are many problems with the way age-care services are run in this country, the treatment in nursey homes is despicable. Latinos still respect their elders, we still believe in the Grandma and Grandpa, our elderly continue to be really important for our society, we value their wisdom unlike other cultures who put their elderly in a nursing home, they see them once a year and that’s it.

PIECE OF ADVICE

Look for opportunities - Even though there has been changes in Australia which make it now seem as expensive and hard to achieve, it is still an amazing place to leave and there is so much respect for all human beings. Support for the arts is not what is was before, but Melbourne is still an central hub for arts for Australia and the world. It is truly one of the most liveable cities in the world.

Learn as much as you can – One of the most positive thing Australia offers is top quality education, there are many possibilities to study and professionally develop here. Try to study as much as you can, and you will definitely find success.

Look for help - In these pandemic times, we are lucky that here in Australia there are many institutions that support disadvantaged people. Look for places that provide a family environment, so you feel less alone.

IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS…

Carlos continues to write and perform theatre – adapting to the challenges of the past few years. During the pandemic he has been joining zoom calls with people from all over the world to discuss theatre and art, improvising and recording little scenes and sharing them via the virtual platform. He would like to reform the group “La Catapulta” not only in Spanish but also in English. He would like to stage a play in which he is able to show to the people everything that is happening in the world during the pandemic, to fight using words, to challenge people and make people think. He likes to remind himself of a quote from a Colombian magazine “La Alternativa” (The Alternative) “to dare to think is to start fighting” (atreverse a pensar es empezar a luchar).