Álex Rigola
| Autor and director: | Àlex Rigola |
| Starring: | Alba Pujol and Pep Cruz |
| Drama advisors: | Dobrin Plamenov, Alba Pujol and Irene Vicente |
| Stage design: | Max Glaenzel |
| Technical manager: | Igor Pinto |
| Executive production: | Irene Vicente |
| Management: | Art Republic Productions |
| Acknowledgements:: | Dr. Enric Benito, Josep Pujol, Laura Sisteró and mobles114 |
| Co-production: | Sala Beckett, Titus Andrònic, Heartbreak Hotel and Temporada Alta 2019 |
| With the support of: | Generalitat de Catalunya |
“Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn, No traveler returns, puzzles the will”.Fragment from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
Álex Rigola received a proposal to create a piece on death. The result was a creation on individualism, on neo-liberalism, family, the abstract, humanity, groups, existentialism, survival, friendships and love. It is a show that refects on life from the perspective
Un país sin descubrir de cuyos confines no regresa ningún viajero (An undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns) has a very simple setting: an actress, an actor, a table, a computer and a screen where questions appear. The playwright and actress Alba Pujol carries on a conversation with her father Josep Pujol, professor of Economic History, (played here by Pep Cruz) during his last round of chemotherapy.
The work is structured around the conversations between father and daughter; with Cioran, Shakespeare, Lacan, Gil de Biedma, Eugenio, the Coen brothers or Peter Handke as companions on a journey where the awareness of death takes us towards life. 180 pages of material that were categorized, re-read, and re-placed in order to create this work where the preparations for the funeral and the burial lead to profound reflections but also to a perspective brimming with humour.
Speaking directly to the public, the two actors narrate and relive these conversations.
An undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns is a documentary and immersive theatre project by Álex Rigola, one of the most internationally renowned Spanish directors today. He is the creator of unconventional projects such as Macho Man (2018), Vania (2017), Who Is Me. Pasolini (2016), Incerta Glòria (2015) and Marits i Mullers (2015) where, in play after play, he continues to transgress the limits of the stage. Now, aided by the words of Josep Pujol, the director brings to us a lesson on life, love, relationships, and how to face death with dignity from a calm perspective rich in knowledge.