150 cast and crew, and bringing together some 25,000 spectators. Organizer Osvaldo Dragún declared that "today the open theatre belongs to the entire nation." Winning back the streets The ongoing economic collapse and replacement of President Viola for the hard-line General Leopoldo Galtieri led the company to plan the 1982 season with more precautions. Playwrights were invited to submit works well in advance, and the repertoire was expanded to include works of experimental theatre. Playwright Ricardo Monti contributed to the effort by publishing the "Open Theatre Magazine," a quarterly publication. The magazine provided a forum for potential participants as much as it prudently kept authorities abreast of its developments. Other fund-raising efforts included a coffee-table book, Teatro Abierto 1981, which sold 8,000 copies. None of the participants accepted compensation beyond covering their personal expenses related to the event, and any surplus profits were returned to the struggling company's fund. The Open Theatre's 1982 season, whose slogan was "winning back the streets," opened in late September with Dragún's Al violador (To the Rapist); Eugenio Griffero's provocative look at gay life in Argentina, Príncipe azul (Blue Prince); and Somigliana's daring criticism of the military, Oficial primero ("Commissioned Officer"), among other works from 30 other directors. Controversy ensued, however, when a number of well-known directors' works were passed over, notably Pacho O'Donnell's; negative national sentiment on the heels of the disastrous Falklands War helped further dampen interest in the season, which closed in November. The 1983 season was produced in the Margarita Xirgu Theatre amid Argentina's imminent return to democracy, and its featured plays were more politically daring than those of the two previous seasons. Dragún's Hoy se comen al flaco (Today They'll Take the Skinny Guy) headlined the opening night on September 24. Banned by the dictatorship, murgas were included in the season as theatrical works. The carnival-like marches often paraded out of the theatre house, and included banned left-wing themes. Other works included odes to tragedies in Chile and Nicaragua. The season concluded with a murga marching against censorship, and the burning of an effigy of censorship itself ("La Censurona"). The theatre strikes back El teatrazo ("The Attack of the Theatre") as the slogan of the 1984 season was thought of by its organizers as way to "share our opinion in the context of liberty." The return of democracy, however, also helped deprive the festival of its status as the leading