Federico García is a living biography made of music, dance, and poetry. A beautiful show made with utmost respect that seeks to bring closer the history, life, and work of the great renovator of our culture. The show that Pep Tosar presented at the Grec in 2019 returns to the stage as part of the new Teatre del Raval's program.
The proposal perfectly shows Lorca's passion for expression and the effervescence of what happens in the world; above all, he was drawn to everything that happened at a popular and local level, the authentic color. The artist sought purity both in poetry and in life, and that is why he fell in love with naked forms like cante jondo. In this sense, the explanation the work gives us about the origin of the term "duende flamenco", a word he almost invented or certainly popularized, is very curious.
The poet of contrasts
To better understand this show, it is necessary to contextualize the figure of the author. Federico García Lorca was born in Fuente Vaqueros in 1898, sogrew up imbued with the folklore, mysticism, and rural Andalusia.All of this marked his style and his symbology: the moon as a premonition, the horse as a synonym of passion, and death always omnipresent. However, he did not get stuck in costumbrismo: his poetry wanted toto unite that rural life with the most avant-garde currentsof interwar Europe.Lorca spoke of universal themes such as the limits of human freedom, social oppression, and unfulfilled desire. These themes can be seen in both his poetry (Gypsy Ballads and Poet in New York) and his dramatic works. He was a multidisciplinary artist (musician, playwright, lecturer, and plastic artist) who spoke of existence and tragedy with the same intensity.
The footprint of Barcelona
Although we usually imagine Lorca in Granada, New York or Cuba, his fascination with Barcelona was decisive. Federico fell in love with the city in the 1920s, as in our city he found a modern, European culture close to his artistic creativity. It was here where he premiered Mariana Pineda with his great ally and muse, Margarita Xirgu, and also where he soaked up the avant-garde spirit with friends like Salvador Dalí.In Barcelona, Lorca's poetry became freer, more groundbreaking, and urban, and managed to distance itself from the label of "folkloric poet." The production also does not forget his facet as a painter and draftsman, which also developed in the city of Barcelona, where he even exhibited his drawings in the Galerías Dalmau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-68mkk_Gw
Intensity, restraint, and purity on stage
Artistically the work is impeccable:the play of lights and the use of audiovisuals dramatically enhance the show. The proposal plays with different rhythms: a flamenco group plays on stage and, suddenly, they come to the forefront to theatricalize some moments that better explain the poet's life. The musical weight falls onMariola Membrives, Anna Colom or Ana Brenes, cantaoras who give emotional momentsby exhibiting a voice full of strength and emotion.In Federico García, poetry is made through Rubén Molina's dance. It is a very contained type of flamenco, with very slow and defined movements, but full of emotion, feeling, and strength. The dance is totally linked to all the color of the work and to what is intended to be transmitted: intensity, containment, and purity.
The cuts from the documentary interviews are key because they connect with the author's philosophy. Just as Lorca did with La Barraca (traveling the country in a van to bring classics to those who had no access to culture), this show pursues that same pedagogical vocation: to disseminate his life and work without filters. It is a perfect opportunity for the public to rediscover his biography and his lyrical universe.
The effervescence of a genius
The script rescues very curious and funny details,as the poem he writes on a sheet of paper toLuis Buñuelat three in the morning, when the two of them were drunk in the street, and which begins with verses about "the braid of the air".Also noteworthy is the ode dedicated to Salvador Dalí which, although incomplete, shows Lorca's most playful and fun side. In the end, he was an effervescent young man, eager to live life to the fullest and who, sadly, ended with a tragic and unexpected end.
Lorca today
That this show reaches the stage right now is very significant. And it coincides with a moment in which there is a lot of talk about the author because two historical findings that have recently come to light:- On the one hand, there is the discovery in a Berlin archive of an unreleased video fragment of La Barraca. It is only a few seconds, but it is a document of incalculable value, as these are the only moving images that exist of Lorca during his time with the itinerant company.
- On the other hand, there is the incredible story of Miguel Poveda, who bought the manuscript of the Gacela de la raíz amarga in Germany and discovered that on the back there was an unpublished poem handwritten by Lorca himself. The poem is called Canta el reloj, a text from 1933 about the fleetingness of time and absence where Federico wrote: "It is the flesh signal that I left, upon leaving, to know my place upon returning."
Both events demonstrate that Lorca is still very much current, that his work is constantly revisited, and that Pep Tosar's proposal at the Teatre del Raval is, today more than ever, timely and necessary.
They killed Lorca, but Lorca did not die
Beyond the biography, the function leaves two concepts floating in the airthat perfectly summarize everything experienced in the scene. The first functions as a poetic slap about his murder by reminding us that "he, in the end, was the protagonist of a play he did not write"The second is a lesson on the philosophy of La Barraca: "Theater is written for the people; it is not the people who rule the theater"; a declaration of principles that denounces theater made for purely commercial purposes.In the end, the show exudes Lorca in every sense: for its beauty, poetry, music, aesthetics, and that educational intention that is breathed. It is the perfect closing to link it to that very true phrase that Lorca was killed, but Lorca did not die. Lorca is still alive.