Eu Manzanares takes an important step in her young dramatic career by bringing to the stage the story of her grandmother, her mother and her own, “like a story of Russian dolls”. The piece has been named after the famous aria from the opera Turandot, by Puccini, that the tenor sings, Nessun dorma, that no one sleeps. The operatic reference is not accidental, clearly, and the play’s poster, with a photograph by Kiku Piñol that presents the actress Anna Barrachina characterized as Princess Turandot, but with a work woman’s robe and a yellow glove in a hands down, it’s quite a statement of intent.
Barrachina plays the role of the mother, Tai Fati is the alter ego of Manzanares and Queralt Casasayas is responsible for telling the story of the grandmother, who was young when she walked two hours to go from Santa Coloma to the birth discharged from Barcelona to some laboratories that did research with the blood. He would leave the house with an empty basket hanging from his arm, and when he returned, the basket was full of food. “On the grandmother’s arms were the signs of the punctures from the blood extraction, but this was not commented on,” explains Manzanares.
Based on this family anecdote, and with a mother who has not come out of precariousness working as a maid, the author and director builds this story, which she admits was the hardest to write. The cast is completed with Júlia Truyol and Pepo Blasco, who play various characters. The premiere was supposed to take place last week, but it has been delayed due to an injury to the actor Pep Ferrer, who has finally been replaced by Blasco.
“It’s a tribute to my grandmother and mother, precarious women, and I also consider it as revenge – explains Manzanares-. I found out that during the post-war period my grandmother gave blood in exchange for a basket of food and then for money, and it made me very sad. But when I learned that the pharmaceutical company that benefited from it is listed on the Ibex 35 and sponsors operas at the Liceu, my head exploded. Oysters, my grandmother sponsors operas at the Liceu, I thought. And with all the precariousness we live in the theater!”
“This isn’t just my grandmother’s story – he continues – it’s a universal story and that’s why I showed up at Beckett’s residence. Now I wonder if this will be of any use to my grandmother, who is already dead.”
“There is a lot of fantasy and a lot of reality in the work – says Manzanares – because it sublimates reality and allows us to delve deeper into our illusions and our frustrations. My character was necessary to tell this story, and it was clear to me that the operatic element had to be present. They say that Turandot does not know how to love, but what is at the center of the story is revenge for his grandmother, who was tortured.”
La Becket complies with the tradition of premiering the work of its resident artist coinciding with El Grec, with whom it is co-producing it and it can be seen until July 30. In the upstairs room, from 18 to 30, “an intimate look at the Iliad” will be performed, according to its author, Alberto Conejero. En mitad de tanto fuego is directed by Xavier Albertí and interpreted by Rubén de Eguía.
