The animal of Hungary - ÁLLATOK COLLECTIVE

FRI 18 FEB / 7:30 PM

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

90 minutes
€18 and €20

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

This comedy by Lope had never been performed before. A female version of the myth of the savage in a lively theatrical play in which eight actors play more than twenty characters.

The young Colectivo Állatok (animals, in Hungarian), directed by Ernesto Arias, brings El Animal de Hungría(The Animal of Hungary) to the stage, a little-known text by Lope de Vega that has also been rarely performed. A female version of the myth of the savage hero, it is a story of passion, betrayal, and revenge, not lacking in humor or poetry. The staging is based on a lively theatrical performance that is fresh, dynamic, and entertaining, keeping the audience engaged and enjoying themselves: eight actors who rapidly embody more than twenty characters in a forgotten play by Lope de Vega that possesses more than enough dramatic and poetic quality to belong to the canon of his emblematic works.

In the 1930s, Margarita Xirgu and Enric Borrás's theater company took an interest in her, although they never actually staged her work.  Other critics did so too, 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 distinguished Lope scholars is one of his most accomplished [works], (...) El animal de Hungría is completely unknown to the general public and even to the average audience of our century"; and the critic and scholar of Lope, José F. Montesinos, states in a review that "the whole comedy is beautiful and should be disseminated as much as it deserves." (Source: Revista Artesescénicas no. 23)

ARTISTIC CREDITS

SYNOPSIS

In the mountains of Hungary lives a monster that has ravaged a village. One morning, a nobleman hunts it down and discovers that the monster is the beautiful Queen Teodosia, the first wife of King Primislao. 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 by hiding in a cave. Meanwhile, Faustina has usurped her throne and is about to give birth to an heir.

ÁLLATOK COLLECTIVE

The young collective Állatok (animals, in Hungarian) brings us this story of passion, betrayal, and revenge, which is not lacking in humor or poetry. It is their enthusiasm for Golden Age theater that has led the young members of the Állatok Collective, recent graduates of RESAD, to shape this project together with Ernesto Arias.

The group of young people want to improve their knowledge of verse and, after months of study, they discover The Animal of Hungary. There is no record of it ever having been performed in Spain, which allows them to imagine the staging with complete freedom. A text of enormous poetic quality and at the same time with a great sense of humor, with a fascinating story, a theatrical challenge with which they easily convince Ernesto Arias to embark on the adventure together.

With the support of the Community of Madrid, El Corral de Comedias de Alcalá de Henares, Teatro de la Abadía, RESAD, and the Castillo de Peñíscola Classical Theater Festival, this project is getting off the ground with strength, enthusiasm, and courage. It also brings training, professional rigor, and responsibility to the table.

ERNESTO ARIAS

You can download the program here here

RELATED ACTIVITIES

February 9 / 7:00 p.m. · How to do things with... the classics

February 18 / 6:00 p.m. · The Artist is on Campus - Meeting with Ernesto Arias