Adolfo Simón
| Idea, dramaturgical concept and staging: | Adolfo Simón |
| Assistant director : | Patricia Jorge and Dave Aidan |
| Creation laboratory participants: | Guille Pavón Gray, Pablo Velasco, Candela Caballero, Raquel Alarcón, Mila Lalli, Jesús Navajas, Aitana Sar, Fran Martínez, Pilar Blanco, Sara Batuecas, Rubén Cano, Aitor Satrustegui, Maya Patilla, Ángela Aguilar, Blas Nusier, Olga Blázquez, Miquel Valentín, Sergio Jaráiz, Luis Castilla, Luis García Grande, Lola Blanco, Álvaro Martínez and Pablo Blanco |
| A production by: | DANTE A.C. / Centro Dramático Rural |
“This is the view and reflection, without nostalgia, of a journey of creation to the edge of the precipice, jumping without a safety net in each proposal into the emptiness”.Adolfo Simón
“Imagine a theatre in silence, without actors, a sensorial space where objects and materials narrate stories of a time before the eyes of the visitor”. That is how Adolfo Simón introduces the creative proposal 25 años + 1 día. Un cuarto de siglo de teatro alternativo, whose world premiere will take place in November 2018 within the framework of the Region of Madrid’s 36th Autumn Festival. The artist himself confirms that, “this could be the story of a conviction: 25 years and 1 day [as per the title in Spanish]. It could also be the chronic of a shipwreck. Or the compilation of images of a landscape after the derailing of a train. But no, this is the view and reflection, without nostalgia, of a journey of creation to the edge of the precipice”.
25 años + 1 día. Un cuarto de siglo de teatro alternativo alternativo is an artistic installation that recovers the spirit of some of the most relevant recent creations. Always committed to contemporary languages, Simón’s project also encompasses an exhibition space as a result of the experimentation and reflection that the artist has undertaken on contemporaneity and the scenic discourse over this past quarter century. Thus, the Sala Cuarta Pared will open its doors so that visitors explore different environments, they will find a reading and documentation area and a poetical stage installation that the artist describes as “a party for the senses”.
This journey, which is free to access until capacity is reached, also alternates with daily performances of object theatre:Books y Conserva memoriABC. In parallel, each day there will be a Q&A/dialogue with playwrights and managers that have actively participated in the alternative journey of our theatre from the 1990s up to today. In this manner, the proposal 25 años + 1 día. Un cuarto de siglo de teatro alternativo has various options for the public: the exhibition can be visited as a contemporary museum; it can be enjoyed as a consultation space where you can participate, and also debate with creators; as an audience member you can experience two pieces of object theatre.
Director, playwright, educator and theatre writer, Aldofo Simón has regularly collaborated with Cuarta Pared since the end of the 1980s as part of its educational team. Additionally, he founded the DANTE cultural association, which has been active for the past two decades as a space for research and contemporary creation. Implicated in the creation of the movement known as “alternative theatre”, Simón has brought productions to life based on his own texts and works from living authors of contemporary Spanish theatre, such as Sergi Belbell, Juan Mayorga, Rodrigo García, Angélica Liddell, Carlos Be and Laila Ripol, among others. Opening himself up to new lines of contemporary work, over the past 25 years he has also developed social action events that address issues such as terrorism, AIDS, political disappearances and gender violence, some of which are included in the publications 11 voces contra la barbarie del 11-M, ¡Grita…Tengo sida! o Heridas.