The Ministry of Culture has organized nearly twenty workshops and performances to celebrate World Theatre Day. The program, aimed at all audiences, will unfold in libraries, museums, archaeological sites, and theatrical spaces that have joined in the commemoration of March 27, with a special focus on children.
Minister Patricia del Pozo emphasized «that theater has this transformative potential, and we must ensure that it reaches everyone through initiatives like these and others that we carry out through the Ministry, such as the Andalusian Theatre Network, which this year has been joined by no less than 70 municipalities.»
The Research and Resource Center for Performing Arts in Andalusia will host the central event for the anniversary, with the reading of the manifesto by the Sevillian Edi Carrascal, who balances her work as an actress with teaching. Additionally, there will be the presentation of the 31st edition of the Dramatic Texts Collection, featuring the works ‘My soul somewhere else’ by José Manuel Mora, ‘Here comes the wolf’ by Gonzalo Lloret, ‘Shower him with flowers’ by Juan Manuel Cabañas, and ‘Franco, the return’ by Javier Berger.
This is the final volume of the five dedicated to the winners and finalists of the Miguel Romero Esteo Theatre Texts Award for Young Authors from Andalusia. The event will also preview some of the promotional activities the center will carry out to encourage dramatic literature among young people.
In Almería, the celebration will be led by the Francisco Villaespesa Library, with the fourth edition of the ‘Female Playwrights on Stage’ cycle, coinciding with the day after World Theatre Day. For the occasion, the play ‘Everyday I lied’, by Marta Aran will be performed, who received the Max Award for best authorship revelation in 2020 for this work.
In Cádiz, the Provincial Library will also serve as a stage, hosting a performance by the La Gaviota company presenting the play ‘The same story’, based on the texts of Darío Fo and Franca Rame, ‘Eight theatrical monologues’ and ‘Let’s have sex in peace’.
The Córdoba Library has organized the ‘Let’s do theater in the library’ workshop for March 28, aiming to introduce parents and children to the world of performing arts through games and group dynamics to learn how to use voice and body like actors.
The Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of the city will offer another workshop titled ‘Rehearsal of a play’. Additionally, it will showcase how students from the Rafael Álvarez el Brujo Theater Classroom at the University of Córdoba rehearse through open sessions, where they will perform ‘A View from the Bridge’ (Arthur Miller, 1955), ‘Blood Wedding’ (Federico García Lorca, 1933), and ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ (Federico García Lorca, 1935).
The Granada Library has curated a bibliographic selection of plays ranging from classical to innovative proposals, including comedies, tragedies, monologues, and unforgettable characters that are part of this literary genre. The exhibition will be open from March 24 to April 21.
The Alhambra Theater, managed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, will present ‘The Disappearing Act’ on the weekend of March 28 and 29, the first solo production by flamenco dancer Yinka Esi Graves, with a Jamaican father and Ghanaian mother, who trained in the UK.
The Archaeological Site of Cástulo, located in Linares, has planned itinerant theatrical performances throughout the space by the groups ‘La Irremediable Compañía’ and ‘Teatro La Paca’. The Linares Archaeological Museum will also host a performance, opting for the classics, specifically, ‘Medea’ by Euripides.
The Jaén Museum has organized a shadow theater workshop by setting up small stage sets with cardboard and a projection screen to tell stories through silhouettes. Additionally, the Íbero Museum will host a loose adaptation of ‘Romero and Juliet’ with a humorous twist and a theatrical tour of the museum, featuring Iberian characters and archaeologists. Lastly, the Jaén Provincial Library will hold dramatized readings by the reading club.
The Málaga Museum will celebrate this day with performances within the Greco-Latin Theatre Festival, targeting students from various Secondary and High Schools. On Thursday, March 27, the Cánovas Theater has scheduled a Spanish Dance end-of-career show titled ‘Room 20’ (with performances at 12 and 8 pm). Before each show, a young artist will read the International Theatre Day manifesto.
In Seville, the Central Theater, also managed by the Regional Government, will host the performance of ‘Casting Lear’, an adaptation by Andrea Jiménez of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, where the author will direct a different actor each night in the role of Lear. Through this exercise, Andrea Jiménez initiates a dialogue about fatherhood, love, and forgiveness.
About Theatre Day
World Theatre Day is promoted by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and has been celebrated every March 27 since 1961. The date was chosen in remembrance of the inauguration of the Theatre of Nations Festival held in Paris in 1957. Institutions worldwide participate in this commemoration, organizing numerous events and reading manifestos in defense of the performing arts.
