Although it premiered in 2019, Jauría is finally having a season in Barcelona, ??from April 4 to May 5 at the Romea theater, after a month and a half tour of Catalonia. Jordi Casanovas, based on the facts of La Manada, the gang rape that occurred during Sanfermines in 2016, turned this crime into a theatrical piece, based on the statements made during the trial.
La Vanguardia talks with Carlos Cuevas, one of the performers in this documentary play, directed by Miguel del Arco, which also features Ángela Cervantes, Artur Busquets, Francesc Cuéllar, Quim Ávila and David Menéndez on stage. The dialogues are in Spanish because Casanovas wanted to be faithful to the exact words that were said at the trial.
How did you react when this project came to you?
They proposed to me in May of last year. They sent me the text, I read it in one go, I called my representative and told him to leave those dates free because that’s what we had to do.
What did you think of the text?
It struck me and I wanted to do it because of the commitment I want to make. I think that going on stage is a political commitment that requires a greater involvement than the audiovisual. It was a very poignant and committed moment, and doing the work required a will that I have right now.
Has it been a while since you did theater?
Yes, and I really wanted to go back. I deeply admire Miguel del Arco and his career. The cast mates seemed fantastic to me and I wanted to take on this responsibility of explaining this case in theatre. A case that we all know and that as a generation has crossed us so much.
Do you think it comes more if it’s theater than audiovisual?
No. Theater has its own codes and audiovisual has others, which are also very powerful. However, undoubtedly due to the fact that it is live and that we speak directly to the audience, I think that what happens in the show is very powerful.
How do you play these guys, like beasts?
No, they are normal people.
And how did you feel doing this role?
We had to put ourselves in very uncomfortable places rehearsing, and check ourselves deeply. And also assume and understand… We cannot judge our characters as actors, but we have to try to understand the wiring of their brain to try to explain it well. It is the viewer who judges it and it is the show that issues a judgment. Yes, it is true that it places us in uncomfortable places, but they are undoubtedly necessary to tell this story. They repeat it at the trial: “We are normal people”. Their lawyers say they are normal people, they are people with jobs, they are people with partners, there is a civil guard, there is a military, they are not rapists. But the answer is that they are rapists. Being a rapist has nothing to do with social class or marital status, it has to do with bypassing the other person’s consent and being one-sided with your desires, and not looking in the eyes and not asking if what is by the way, the other person likes it. I think the message of understanding that they are normal people is very important. And that’s the drama. The drama is that rapes are not only committed by people with mental pathologies and with significant criminal records, but rapists are among us.
As performers, did you need more help from each other?
No, because we are professionals: when we leave the theater we take off our clothes and become ourselves again. If every day we did the show was emotionally draining in an unbearable way, we wouldn’t be able to do this job. It is a hard text for the viewer, but we have already experienced it many times. What there has indeed been is a great commitment when it comes to rehearsing, a brutal rigor when it comes to learning the text. The first day we knew everything from top to bottom. What does it mean? Well, we had a lot of respect for the proposal.
How does the public react?
I have the feeling that we are in a demonstration when the show ends. People are standing, you see people crying, you see people angry, you see people outraged. The show jumps off the stage and stirs the audience. And above all the most important thing is that it makes sediment and educates the look. I don’t think anyone leaves the theater thinking the same way about sexual assaults, about accompanying a victim, about the role of justice and lawyers in the entire investigation process. I think that everyone is born with a new, more contemporary and refined opinion on these issues.
In other words, the work does a job.
We are part of a trend that is not ours, but a feminist movement, a movement about consent, against sexist aggression. Undoubtedly, this show goes in favor of these speeches and helps them reach more people.
