Valladolid, Jul (EFE).- The vitality of classical theater and therefore its validity rests on the inexhaustible nature of its texts, “which arouse nostalgia and envy of the language”, the playwright Juan Mayorga explained to EFE this Friday, a day before premiering his version of “El diablo cojuelo” at the Olmedo Clásico festival.
“There are great classic texts that are waiting for creators to visit them and discover new meanings” and also “allow us to rediscover a wonderful Spanish that is accepted as its own and that has great beauty, which has been taken into account in this version of the work of Luis Vélez de Guevara”, he reflected.
The spectators “are going to share a theatrical party” starring some clowns who are commissioned to make a classic, “which they receive with enthusiasm and as a way to vindicate themselves, although they feel unsuccessful when it comes to tackling it”, he added about this new approach to “El diablo cojuelo”.
heterodox version
“It is a very unorthodox version that intersperses two different plots, but also very respectful, made out of affection and the desire to give the viewer traits of that great work. The action is geared towards clowns because before making this proposal with the Rhum company, I was a huge fan of it”, he revealed.
This prolific theatrical creator, who has nearly fifty of his own works, to which are added short pieces and versions -such as the one presented in Olmedo-, is a clear example that “the dichotomy between science and letters is artificial, and it must be resisted”.
Doctor of Philosophy and Mathematics professor, with whom he continues to “enjoy” and have always accompanied him, little by little he allowed himself to be drawn into the theater since, at the age of 16, he witnessed “Doña Rosita la soltera” at the María Guerrero theater, of which he still keeps “images in his heart”.
In this sense, he has confessed that the theater was a place where he felt respected as a spectator, that he expected something from him, that he could remember, imagine and think about, and he was lucky enough to find “a great theater” in which he soon felt that he wanted to participate.
prestigious playwright
Thus, he has gradually become one of the most recognized playwrights in Spain, whose works have been translated into twenty languages and premiered in thirty countries, and he continues to write “permanently”, since he maintains a constant “curiosity and alert attitude”, which means that “an argument appears at any moment”.
In fact, he is currently working on a play called “Los argumentos”, whose characters tell each other that, arguments, that they are not capable of developing, so they let the viewer make them germinate in their head.
“Life with stories is worth more,” warned Mayorga, who feels special affection for Olmedo, “a small city that is known for being culturally important, and whose festival allows the audience to see shows that would otherwise be difficult to access.”
the art of imagining
For this outstanding author, theater “is the art of meeting and imagination, of criticism and utopia” and his objective is to summon four forces: “action, emotion, poetry and thought”, which he transfers not only to his works, but also from his role as director of Teatro de la Abadía.
And despite the fact that he has crossed borders with his works, his concern is “to interest the people of the neighborhood, attend to the vulnerability and fragility of the human being” and, since we are all “basically the same” and have the same desires, and the same aspirations regarding beauty, “it has the capacity to reach many different places.”
His desire, as a playwright, is to be faced with new texts that challenge him, that he wants to write them and does not know how to do it, prepare projects and that other directors tackle shows with his texts and, since that is happening, he feels “very happy” to have “new stories to tell and to tackle a “difficult but fascinating job” with his Teatro de la Abadía.
Finally, he pointed out that “we must be vigilant, not take a step back and be committed to fighting against censorship and for the freedom and circulation of ideas, because a city that does not allow a show, for ideological reasons or interests, is an impoverished city”. EFE