The Museum launches the 1st edition of "Classics at the Museum", conference of classical theater to be held in the exhibition halls.
The conference directed by Liuba Cid, artistic director of more than 50 theatrical productions, brings to the public the work of the most emblematic writers of the Golden Age.
The Museum premieres the first edition of"Classics at the Museum", an annual cycle that brings classical theater to the exhibition halls, thus developing a new way of doing theater at the Museum. The conference were presented by José Manuel Garrido, the Museum's performing arts programmer, and Liuba Cid, theatrical director of these performances, who has directed more than 50 theatrical productions during her long career.
"Classics at the Museum" brings the work of the best writers of the Golden Age to the public. The conference are divided into two types of theatrical performance: on the one hand, the Dramatized Readings of the most emblematic authors of this era (November 6, 7 and 8) and on the other, the full performance, but in three different sessions of the play "Fuenteovejuna" (November 13 and 14) by Lope de Vega. "The classical theater brings us a great diversity of genres such as comedy, drama, etc.. It is very pleasing for the spectator because in three days he will be able to see a wide spectrum of everything that is the Golden Age," said Liuba Cid.
Throughout the day, several performances will be held with a duration ranging from 10 to 18 minutes each. Thus, The Black Forest, by Íñigo Manglano Ovalle, will witness the dramatized reading of El Alcalde de Zalamea, by Calderón de la Barca, followed by El juez de los divorcios, by Cervantes in the exhibition conference room of Antoni Tàpies' work."We wanted to integrate these works into the space of the Museum's contemporary works and we wanted to respect this setting as it is," explained Liuba Cid."We don't want our performing arts program to be limited only to theater, but to produce an interaction of all the arts present in the Museum, that is to say that a person contemplating a painting by Tàpies can at the same time listen to the words of a dramatic text. This conjunction will produce certain emotions and we want to experiment with them," said José Manuel Garrido.
The selection of the great majority of the texts for the Dramatized Readings was made by the group of research Siglo de Oro (GRISO) of the University of Navarra, directed by Ignacio Arellano. "We had a large volume of material and a much shorter reading time as it was done in the halls. The GRISO made a great selection work in a very well formed program," said Liuba Cid.
Dramatized Readings will bring to theaters the most representative scenes of the Golden Age such as El Alcalde de Zalamea and La vida es sueño by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, The Knight of Olmedo by Lope de Vega, The Mocker of Seville by Tirso de Molina, El Juez de los divorcios (The Judge of Divorces) by Miguel de Cervantes, and La Aventura nocturna, and Loa de muchos papeles by Rodrigo de Villandrando. "Scenes have not been selected at random, but those that all together create a special dramaturgy that allows the viewer to travel through the history of the story," stressed the artistic director.
Next Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14, the second workshop of "Classics at the Museum" will be held, in which "Fuenteovejuna" by Lope de Vega will be performed in its entirety, divided into three different sessions. This version by Liuba Cid and the company Mephisto Teatro was premiered on behalf of the International Classical Theater Festival of Almagro in its XXXII edition. "It represents values that right now are in the discussion of all. According to Menéndez Pelayo it is the most democratic work of Spanish theater. For this reason, we wanted to resurrect these classics and show all the actuality that they have in their own Philosophy", Liuba Cid confessed. "To do a whole play in theaters is unusual. It's going to be very special," added the Museum's performing arts programmer.
Some of the actors in the large cast include Ángel Solo, who has participated in several television projects such as the series Acacias 38, Sin identidad and Alatriste; Miguel Hermoso, award of the Actors Union for Best Supporting Actor in Theater 2002 for La test and another familiar face from television thanks to series such as Yo soy Bea and Alatriste; and Carmen del Valle, award Max de Artes Escénicas 2006 for Best Supporting Actress, among other artists."For the actors it is a challenge to be able to transmit all the richness of classical works in a context with other works that are also part of the narrative of our time. We create a bridge between tradition and modernity, between past and present," stressed the artistic director.
The price of these functions is 4.5€/day. The entrance includes a tour of the building and rooms. Tickets can be purchased at locker and on the Museum's website.