Bodybox
Capitalism has saved my life
Juan José Morales Tate
About the work
WHAT IS THE PRICE OF MY CONSERVATION?
For more than a decade, Juan José Morales Tate has lived with HIV, relying on a daily pill whose cost reflects the vast economic forces that shape his survival. This intimate reality forms the core of his performance, Capitalism has saved my life, which centers on a quiet, unfolding collaboration with his audience as he builds his own coffin from bare wooden panels. The audience is silently asked to help and to collaborate in the construction, holding it when necessary, bringing the nails closer together, and finally closing the lid if deemed appropriate.
From within this shared act, a series of urgent questions rises to the surface. How much is his life worth, and what is the real price of his survival? What global systems support his preservation, and what conditions elsewhere make it possible for the Spanish healthcare system to purchase such costly medication? He reflects on the political, economic, social, and geographical forces that allow him to take one pill a day and on the consequences he would face without it. As Susan Sontag wrote in 1978, illness creates a different kind of citizenship, one that everyone must eventually acknowledge. Juan’s performance asks the audience to consider this citizenship and the unequal world that shapes it.
About the artist
Juan José Morales Tate
Seville, Spain
Juan José Morales Tate is a performing artist and theatre teacher. He has worked as a director, playwright, actor and producer in more than 80 shows. He has toured throughout Spain, France, Portugal, Morocco, Chile, and Luxembourg. He has participated in festivals such as Fit de Cádiz, Fintdanz (Iquique-Chile), Perpetracions (Barcelona), Inhospit (Formentera) or Sevilla Fest; or in venues such as the Victoria Eugenia Theatre in San Sebastián, Nave 73 (Madrid), and the Bellas Artes Amphitheatre (Santiago de Chile).
He created his company Teatro en el Mar after winning the INJUVE 2015 Award with his one-man show Romeo (o Julieta Dormida). In these 9 years, he has premiered 10 shows of his own creation including Capitalism has saved my life, Romancero Gitano Cabaret, Playa de seda bajo la tempestad and Vencer la Noche.
He has assisted the dancer Rocío Barriga in Todo esto no es tradición and directed Alberto Sellés and Iván Orellana in Deuteronomio, Luxembourg Flamenco Festival 2025.
As an author, he has written 11 original texts, including Romeo (o Julieta dormida), La Presa and Amelia y la Dama Azul (published by Punto Rojo Editores).
As a producer, he has worked with the Mairena del Alcor Town Council in the direction of Emergentes. Encuentro Internacional de Jóvenes Creadores en las Artes Escénica (2012-2020), Unifestival (2016-2019) and Happen. Acciones artísticas en la vía pública (2022).
Among his most notable recognitions are the Injuve Award 2015 by the Government of Spain, the Cultura con Orgullo Awards for Best Author (2017) and Best Show (2019), playwright in the Iberescena Co-Production Grant and the Interreg_Magallanes Creation Grant awarded by ICAS. Ayuntamiento de Sevilla (2021).
As a researcher, he has given the conferences Dolor sangrado. Burke-In yer face-Semana Santa, and Non conventional stages. He has also collaborated with Lectámbulos, Mexican magazine of contemporary culture.