Eu Manzanares takes an important step in her young dramaturgical career, staging the story of her grandmother, her mother and her own in the Beckett room, “like a story of Russian dolls”. The piece has been titled after the famous aria from the opera Turandot, by Puccini, which the tenor sings, Nessun dorma, let no one sleep. The operatic reference is not accidental, of course, and the poster for the play, with a photograph by Kiku Piñol that presents the actress Anna Barrachina portrayed as Princess Turandot, but with a cleaning lady's robe and a yellow glove on one of the his hands, it is quite a declaration of intent.
Barrachina plays the role of the mother, Tai Fati is the alter ego of Manzanares and Queralt Casasayas is responsible for telling the story of the grandmother, who was young when she walked two hours to go from Santa Coloma to the upper part of Barcelona about laboratories that did research with blood. She would leave the house with an empty basket hanging from her arm, and when she returned, the basket was full of food. "In the arms of the grandmother were the signs of the punctures from the blood extraction, but that was not commented on," explains Manzanares.
Based on this family anecdote, and with a mother who has not come out of precariousness working as a cleaning woman, the author and director builds this story, which is the one that has cost her the most to write, she acknowledges. The cast is completed by Júlia Truyol and Pepo Blasco, who play various characters. The premiere was supposed to be last week, but it has been postponed to this week due to an injury to actor Pep Ferrer, who has finally been replaced by Blasco.
"It is a tribute to my grandmother and my mother, precarious women, and I also pose it as revenge," says Manzanares. I found out that during the postwar period my grandmother gave blood in exchange for a basket of food and later for money, and she made me very sorry. But when I found out that the pharmaceutical company that benefited is listed on the Ibex 35 and sponsors operas at the Liceu, my head exploded. Oysters, my grandmother sponsors operas at the Liceu, I thought. And with all the precariousness that we live in the theater!”
“This is not just the story of my grandmother – he continues –, it is a universal story and that is why I applied to the Beckett residence. Now I wonder if that will help my grandmother, who is already dead.
“In the work there is a lot of fantasy and a lot of reality –says Manzanares–, because it sublimates reality and allows us to delve into our illusions and frustrations. My character was necessary to explain this story, and it was clear to me that the operatic element had to be present. They say that Turandot does not know how to love, but what is at the center of the story is revenge for his grandmother, who was tortured.
La Beckett complies with the tradition of premiering the work of its resident artist coinciding with the Grec, with whom it co-produces it and it can be seen until July 30. In the room above, from 18 to 30, "an intimate look at the Iliad" will be represented, according to its author, Alberto Conejero. In the middle of so much fire is directed by Xavier Albertí and interpreted by Rubén de Eguía.
