February in Madrid: Contemporary Politics and Theatre

Escena Contemporanea, Third Alternative Festival of the Scenic Arts, Madrid, January 20-February 23, 2003.

Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of theatre festivals happen every year. This seeming glut can result in what Nicholas Ridout, in an article in Theatre Forum 22 (Winter/Spring 2003) recently called "a certain jadedness" that has set in around the work at festivals. Yet theatre festivals—especially those focused on alternative work—are an important site for experimentation. They also give credibility to the groups featured as well as focusing marketing efforts so that companies needn't use precious resources getting noticed. And, perhaps most importantly, whenever a large group of alternative theatre artists join together, at least a few intriguing performances are bound to emerge. Held from January 20 to February 23, 2003, Madrid's Escena Contemporanea (The Contemporary Stage), the Third Alternative Festival of the Scenic Arts, included 41 theatre companies in 146 performances. Unlike festivals in the U.S., for which theatre companies must often contribute some of their own money, the Escena Contemporanea was backed by a number of donors. The Commonwealth of Madrid was the principal backer, but the festival was also funded by the radio station "M80," Spain's National Institute of the Dramatic Arts and Music, and the General Manager of Cultural Cooperation and Communication, both branches of Spain's Ministry of Education, Culture, and Leisure. Ten other contributors, including the French Embassy, the British Council, and the Goethe Institute, supported the festival as evidence of its international character.

Selections followed the funding pattern—mostly Spanish but peppered with international pieces. They ranged from Alfonso Armada's political play about the negligent deaths of immigrants smuggled aboard ships, Los niños no pueden hacer nada por los muertos (There's Nothing Children Can Do About the Dead), to the unsettling trilogy, Tríptico de la aflicción, by Angélica Liddell, to the Russian Akhe Group's surprisingly moving multi-media piece, White Cabin. And they follow patterns that scholar Ted Shank, in Beyond the Boundaries: American Alternative Theatre (2002), has observed set alternative theatre apart from mainstream work. "Unlike the commercial theatres, they are not primarily concerned with entertainment as a product to be sold. Instead, [through theatre] they are anxious to improve the quality of life for themselves and their audiences" (3). They also work to develop an autonomous creative method. Either by turning outward to observe human social/political behaviors, or by turning inward to consider the nature of perception and consciousness (or both), alternative theatre has usually arisen out of a spirit of personal or social activism. Certainly this was true of the Escena Contemporanea's best works. Here, we'll look at a few of the offerings at the festival and a couple of interesting pieces that illuminate the context of this work within the Madrid theatre scene. (Since this is only a survey, anyone teased by this short report may consult the website at www.escenacontemporanea.com for more information.)

Alejandro y Ana

The strongest example of activism and creative innovation that we saw at the festival was probably Alejandro y Ana: Lo que España no pudo ver del banquete de la boda de la hija del presidente (Alexander and Anna: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Not Allowed to See of the Wedding Dinner of the President's Daughter), co-scripted by well-known young authors Juan Mayorga and Juan Cavestany. The play had already gained notice in January since Animalario, the company that performed Alejandro y Ana, was also in complete charge of the staging, scripting, and directing of the Seventeenth Annual Goya Awards (Spain's version of the Academy Awards) held February 1, 2003. This year's Goya Festival became a venue for filmmakers and artists to display antiwar symbols on their clothing, and to speak out as they accepted awards. When Animalario member Guillermo...