Playing cards 1: SPADES

Robert Lepage is not just one of the most feted and sought-after theatre directors in the world, he is also one of the most prolific.

- FISUN GÜNER (29/01/2011)

A prolific and visionary genius, Robert Lepage is one of the most acclaimed theatre directors of our age. This unrivalled artist has chosen Madrid for the much-awaited world premiere of his latest production. Playing Cards 1: SPADES is the first of four works - with HEARTS, DIAMONDS and CLUBS to follow - inspired by the rules, the signs, the numbers, the mathematics, the mythology and the characters pertaining to each suit of cards. The origin of cards can often be traced back to the Arab world with the four parts of the tetralogy making up a cosmos dealing with our past, present and future relationships, our exchanges, and sometimes too, our culture shocks when encountering the Arab way of life.

In what is now becoming the norm with this director's productions, SPADES uses a spectacular cutting-edge multimedia technology to tackle a controversial topic such as war. Beyond luck, chance and excess, the action - presented on a circular stage to offer the audience a 360-degree view - takes place in two cities built in the heart of two deserts. On one side is Las Vegas, an archetype of Western extremes and on the other, Baghdad, during the US invasion of Iraq. The work portrays a multicultural crossroads, a place where anything goes, where wealth (sometimes extreme) and poverty come face-to-face. Las Vegas will reveal itself as an empire of illusions, symbolising the blindness of those characters who decide to keep on playing even though their country is at war.

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