The playwright, Denise Despeyroux was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the very same day as an elephant in the zoo that was called Leo. This led to her having a favourite childhood book about an elephant. That book told how an elephant’s sadness is far greater than that which any person or child could ever experience and this led Denise to often question whether it could be true, leading to her conviction that theatre was the best place to explore these themes.
Her family emigrated to Barcelona when she was three and from the age of twelve, she was already passionately involved with theatre. She studied Philosophy but it was mainly her time at the Colegi del Teatre, the Studio of Nancy Tuñón and the Sala Beckett that captivated her as she says: -
“At the age of six, my parents placed me in a school for classical dance, that fascinated me … but I felt that there was a ‘voice’ that was missing. I loved the physical body work but I was very aware of the lack of a ‘voice’… so [the theatre] was an early passion for me.”
After a creative stint in Buenos Aires, she now lives and works in Madrid.
‘La Realidad’ was written in 2012. Following a request by the Argentine actress, Fernanda Orazi, who wanted a monologue for the first festival of Fringe Theatre to be held in Madrid, Despeyroux developed this interesting variation on the theme of a monologue into identical twin sisters with one actress who, in essence, converses with herself on stage: -
Denise Despeyroux
“As the shows progress, you can see how there are nights when Luz [pre-recorded on the video screen] performs better than others… it was one of the things that emerged in the process. We observed that according to how the actress on stage dealt with her dialogue, the reaction and dialogue responses from Luz, on the screen, had a greater or lesser effect… her performance changed…!”
This anomaly delighted Despeyroux and her love for esoteric elements, even paranormal and of course, the ever- present underlying humour: -
“True seriousness is comedy. Humour sometimes has the capacity to reach a depth that seriousness… by being ‘solemn’ cannot achieve… I’m very afraid of solemnity in the theatre… I need irony to survive. Irony might have its shadows but it remains luminous and saves us from pain…and it doesn’t end in cynicism.”
Maite Jáurregui
Despeyroux is fascinated by new challenges and experimentation within the theatrical experience. She likes to choose disparate and fantastical themes, creating worlds with their own codes, that at the same time allow her to delve into the mysteries of our own world:
“…If a work can be imagined, it can be staged.”
In one previous work, ‘Carne Viva’ (Live Flesh) that was a huge commercial success in Madrid, the action takes place simultaneously in three separate spaces, with some character moving from one to the other. In ‘La Realidad’, one sister performs on a pre-recorded screen projection, as in a conversation on Skype, interacting with the actor on stage. A simple but fascinating technical and visual idea that remains, in essence, a monologue: -
“While Andrómeda speaks to Luz [on the screen] we can see that Luz is listening… and that is part of the magic that actors and actresses of talent can achieve [on stage]. That something that should be impossible, should still appear to be authentic and easy.”
The core idea about ‘La Realidad’ sprang from a newspaper article that Despeyroux spotted while travelling by train, called “The dramatic origins of Spiral Galaxies”:-
Denise Despeyroux: -
“It was an article about astronomy, it didn't refer to families or anythin, but I decided, then and there, to write a play with the exact title “The Dramatic Origins of Spiral Galaxies” that would deal with a family. The protagonist would have a sister who dedicated herself to the study of ‘Family Constellations’ about which, at that moment, I didn’t have the faintest idea … having only heard vague comments about this [psychoanalytical theory] but it seemed an unusual thing. I had no idea if it was esoteric or not… so I began to study it, to read Bert Hellinger and Verger, the fathers of these theories and it was fascinating, as suddenly things began to happen in my own life as well.”
The theory of ‘Family Constellations’ is about how to discover underlying family bonds and forces that are carried unconsciously, sometimes over many generations. These were derived through integrating existential phenomenology family systems therapy with elements of indigenous mysticism. All elements are present in this play.
'The Reality' was premiered at the Fringe Festival in Madrid in 2012 and was a finalist in the 2013 Max Awards, Spain’s most important theatrical awards.
The director of the play, Raymi Ortuse Quiroga, was born in La Paz, Bolivia but he has lived in London most of his life. He studied drama at the Rose Brudford College and has progressed to being artistic director of the Chaskis Theatre company, a leading tutor at his alma mater college, as well as directing works by José River and Carlos Murillo. He pointed out that one crucial panic of relying on technology on stage, such as the projection of Luz, is the concern that one of these days, the projection might fail and how would they deal with that?
Another difficulty is the timing, the interactions between Andrómeda on stage and Luz on screen. Maite Jáurregui, who plays both characters, was born in LA, California but got into acting in Madrid. She studied at RADA and has appeared in many plays, such as ‘Don Quixote’ ( Warehouse Theatre, Croydon), Hand in Hand ( Southwark Cathedral) and she excelled as ‘Adela’ in the wonderful production of The House of Bernarda Alba, also held at the Cervantes Theatre in London. She has already appeared in a one-woman show of her own called ‘Una’. She is grateful that this was not her first time: -
“ Curiously, when I was asked to participate in this play, I had just done my one- woman show, which was the first time I had created something of mine and I was totally alone on the stage, So when this turned up I was delighted I had some experience… well, you die of fright anyway… but the first time is the worst… normally we are interacting with other actors.”
Jorge de Juan, Raymi Ortuse Quiroga, Denise Despeyroux and Miate Jáurregui at the opening night Q&A at the Cervantes Theatre.
The technological ingredient in this play, led to a lot of rehearsing, as Maite Jáurregui explains: -
“The most difficult moment is when I [as Adrómeda] am meditating at the start [of the play] and Luz [on screen] has to react to what I am saying. I have had to measure how many ‘Ya Ya Manesha’ mantras I can repeat. I suffer terribly during those moments… although, gradually the more you rehearse with the video… the easier it becomes, as you go adjusting your timing.”
As a spectator, it is particularly interesting to see which aspects of the play are brought out according to whether the dialogue is in English or in Spanish. People speaking different languages, instinctively use a different body language, different head or hand gestures, so each language and culture has certain ‘codes.’ Inevitably, some of these will filter down into the performances.
Personally, I found that in the Spanish Version, Luz [on screen] appeared unduly obsessed with her ‘beliefs’ to the point of being irritating, while in the English version I found myself in tears! The dynamic is affected, however beautifully translated the work is or how much the actors attempt to keep both versions identical. ‘The Reality’ was skilfully translated by Sarah Maitland.
Director Raymi Ortuse Quiroga:
“Once, I tried to translate a play and realized I could never do it justice… you need three different types of brain and three different types of heart. You have to see the words, of course, but you have to understand what’s going on, to be able to translate the ‘emotional’ heart. In terms of the acting performance, you also have to find what is hidden behind the words… you have to de-code it, to discover what lies beneath, because words are sometimes like a mask. Especially Adrómeda, who hides many emotions behind her words, as well as many lies… and so does Luz, she also lies!”
Audiences can find that they interpret the character’s behaviour differently, probably according to their own personal circumstances. When Adrómeda does the ‘chairs therapy’ and is having an imaginary dialogue, some people assume it is with her father and others think it is probably an ex- lover, who treated her badly. As Cupid fired two arrows, one of love and one of lead, it is more likely to have been a lover, because Cupid would not shoot an arrow at a parent. But whatever the outcome, the conversation is still about the pain of abandonment, a need that has arisen from the rejection and absence of love.
The changes in interpretations can give rise to unusual situations. In Madrid after one performance of ‘La Realidad’, some audience members were asking: -
“Why has the second actress not come out to take a bow!”
Maite Jáurregui
This season of women Hispanic playwrights consists of three different productions starting with ‘The Reality’, which will play from 1-18th May. It will be followed (May 24-25) by ‘On/From Debris’ by María Prado, and ‘The Old Masters’ by Eva Hibernia (31 May- 1 June).
There is a lot of talk about a ‘boom’ in Spanish theatre. According to Denise Despeyroux, this is the direct result of the economic crisis: -
“In part it had to do with the financial crisis, when many projects were cancelled. There were many people who were accustomed to having plenty of funds available for putting on productions and when, suddenly, it wasn’t there, they couldn’t do it at all. On the other hand, we [on the fringe] are so accustomed to putting on works with no money or very little, that we just continued as normal. This probably helped the fringe gain greater visibility and presence.”
Some works that started out in the fringe moved into commercial theatres and were a huge success, including ‘Carne Viva’ (2013) that had a long and successful three- year run.
La Realidad: -
Director: Raymi Ortuse Quiroga
Cervantes Theatre Producer: Paula Paz
Playwright Denise Despeyroux
Luz & Andrómeda Maite Jáurregui
