Although it premiered in 2019, Jauría finally has a season in Barcelona, from April 4 to May 5 at the Romea theater, after a month and a half of touring Catalonia. Jordi Casanovas, based on the events of La Manada, the group rape that occurred during the Sanfermines of 2016, turned this crime into a theatrical piece, based on the statements made during the trial. La Vanguardia speaks with Carlos Cuevas, one of the performers of this documentary theater work, directed by Miguel del Arco, which also features Ángela Cervantes, Artur Busquets, Francesc Cuéllar, Quim Àvila and David Menéndez on stage. The dialogues are in Spanish because Casanovas wanted to be faithful to the exact words that were said at the trial.
How did you react when this project came to you?
They made the proposal to me in May of last year. They sent me the text, I read it in one sitting, I called my representative and told him to clear those dates because we had to do that.
What did you think of the text?
It shook me and I wanted to do it because of the commitment I want to make. I believe that getting on stage is a political commitment that requires greater involvement than the audiovisual one. It was a very poignant and committed moment, and performing the work required a will that I have right now.
Has it been a while since you did theater?
Yes, and I really wanted to come back. I deeply admire Miguel del Arco and his career. I thought my co-stars were fantastic and I wanted to take on this responsibility of explaining this case in theater. A case that we all know and that as a generation has affected us so much.
Do you think it reaches more if it is theater than audiovisual?
No. Theater has its own codes and audiovisual has others, which are also very powerful. Now, undoubtedly because it is live and we speak directly to the audience, I think what happens in the show is very powerful.
How do you interpret these kids, like beasts?
No, they are normal people.
And how did you feel playing this role?
We have had to place ourselves in very uncomfortable places while rehearsing, and review ourselves deeply. And also assume and understand... We cannot judge our characters as actors, but we have to try to understand the wiring of their brain to try to explain it well. It is the viewer who judges it and it is the show that makes a judgment. It is true that he places us in uncomfortable places, but they are undoubtedly necessary to tell this story. They repeat it at the trial: “We are normal people.” Their lawyers say that they are normal people, they are people with jobs, they are people with a partner, there is a civil guard, there is a soldier, they are not rapists. But the answer is that they are rapists. Being a rapist does not have to do with a social class or a marital status, but rather it has to do with bypassing the other person's consent and being unilateral with your desires, and not looking them in the eye and not asking if what is happening the other person wants it. I think the message of understanding that they are normal people is very important. And this is the drama. The drama is that rapes are not only committed by people with mental pathologies and a significant criminal history, but rapists are among us.
As performers, have you needed to help each other?
No, because we are professionals: when we leave the theater we take off our clothes and we become ourselves again. If every day we did the show moved us emotionally in an unbearable way, we wouldn't be able to do this job. It is a hard text for the viewer, but we have already experienced it many times. What there has been is a very great commitment when rehearsing, a brutal rigor when learning the text. The first day we knew everything from top to bottom. What does that mean? Well, we had a lot of respect for the proposal.
How does the public react?
I have the feeling that we are in a demonstration when the show ends. People are standing, you see people crying, you see angry people, you see outraged people. The show jumps off the stage and stirs the audience. And above all, the most important thing is that it sediments and educates the gaze. I don't think anyone leaves the theater thinking the same about sexual assaults, about supporting a victim, about the role of justice and lawyers in the entire investigation process. I think everyone is born with a new, more contemporary and refined opinion on these issues.
That is, the work manages to do a job.
We are being part of a current that is not ours, but is a feminist movement, a movement about consent, against sexist aggression. Undoubtedly, this show is in favor of these speeches and helps them reach more people.
Catalan version, here
