The Hungarian animal - COLECTIVO ÁLLATOK

FRI 18 FEB / 19.30 H

A comedy by Lope de Vega
Állatok Collective
Directed by Ernesto Arias

90 minutes
18€ y 20€

Additional discounts with youth card. 20% discount + 5€ discount vouchers

This comedy by Lope had not been performed before. A feminine version of the myth of the savage in an agile theatrical play in which eight actors play more than twenty characters.

The young Colectivo Állatok (animals, in Hungarian), directed by Ernesto Arias, brings to the stage El Animal de Hungría, a very little known text by Lope de Vega that has also been very little represented. A feminine version of the myth of the wild hero, a story of passions, betrayal and revenge that does not lack humor or poetry. The staging is based on an agile theatrical game, fresh, dynamic and fun, with which the spectator is entertained and enjoys: eight performers who embody in a dizzying way more than twenty characters in a forgotten play by Lope de Vega that has more than enough dramaturgical and poetic quality to belong to the canon of his emblematic works.

In the thirties, the company of Margarita Xirgu and Enric Borrás was interested in it, although it was never performed. So did other critics, on the occasion of the tercentenary of Lope's death. Rivas Cherif stated in the magazine Ondas in 1935 that "El animal de Hungría, which according to the most renowned Lope writers is one of his most finished [works], (...) El animal de Hungría is absolutely unknown to the general public and even to the average public of our century"; and the critic and scholar of Lope, José F. Montesinos, stated in a review that "the whole comedy is very beautiful and should be disseminated as much as it deserves". (Source: Artesescénicas Magazine no. 23)

ARTISTIC FILE

SYNOPSIS

In the mountains of Hungary lives a monster that has devastated a village. One morning, a nobleman hunts him down and discovers that the monster is the beautiful Queen Theodosia, first wife of King Primislaus. She tells him that, victim of the intrigues of Faustina, her own sister, she was condemned to die among the wild beasts but managed to survive hidden in a cave. Meanwhile, Faustina has usurped her throne and is about to give birth to an heir.

ALLATOK COLLECTIVE

The young Állatok Collective (animals, in Hungarian), brings us this story of passions, betrayal and revenge with no lack of humor or poetry. It is the enthusiasm for the theater of the Golden Age that led the young members of the Colectivo Állatok, recent graduates of the RESAD, to shape this project together with Ernesto Arias.

The group of young people wished to improve their knowledge in the handling of verse and, after months of study, they found in El animal de Hungría. There is no news of its representation in Spain, which allows them to imagine with total freedom the staging. A text of enormous poetic quality and at the same time with a great sense of humor, with a fascinating story, a scenic challenge with which they manage to easily convince Ernesto Arias to embark together on the adventure.

With the support of the Comunidad de Madrid, El Corral de Comedias de Alcalá de Henares, Teatro de la Abadía, RESAD and the Festival de Teatro Clásico del Castillo de Peñíscola, this project is launched with strength, enthusiasm and courage. Also with training, professional rigor and responsibility.

ERNESTO ARIAS

You can download the program here

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