martes, 15 de diciembre de 2015

La Novia Tráiler Oficial (2015)



Today I don't write about theatre, but about a movie, which in this case is based on a play (so many times performed in Spain and abroad) by the well-known playwright Federico García Lorca, BODAS DE SANGRE (Blood Wedding).

The play, mostly writen as poetry, is a masterpiece which belongs to the 'rural trilogy' together with Yerma and The house of Bernarda Alba.

Wonderfully played and directed by Paula Ortiz comes this movie, keeping the language that Federico García Lorca gave to its characters.

Here I leave a small fragment, one of the most beautifully writen in our Spanish literature:

Novia:
Con los dientes,
con las manos, como puedas.
quita de mi cuello honrado
el metal de esta cadena,
dejándome arrinconada
allá en mi casa de tierra.
Y si no quieres matarme
como a víbora pequeña,
pon en mis manos de novia
el cañón de la escopeta.
¡Ay, qué lamento, qué fuego
me sube por la cabeza!
¡Qué vidrios se me clavan en la lengua!
Leonardo:
Ya dimos el paso; ¡calla!
porque nos persiguen cerca
y te he de llevar conmigo.
Novia:
¡Pero ha de ser a la fuerza!
Leonardo:
¿A la fuerza? ¿Quién bajó
primero las escaleras?
Novia:
Yo las bajé.
Leonardo:
¿Quién le puso
al caballo bridas nuevas?
Novia:
Yo misma. Verdad.
Leonardo:
¿Y qué manos
me calzaron las espuelas?
Novia:
Estas manos que son tuyas,
pero que al verte quisieran
quebrar las ramas azules
y el murmullo de tus venas.
¡Te quiero! ¡Te quiero! ¡Aparta!
Que si matarte pudiera,
te pondría una mortaja
con los filos de violetas.
¡Ay, qué lamento, qué fuego
me sube por la cabeza!
Leonardo:
¡Qué vidrios se me clavan en la lengua!
Porque yo quise olvidar
y puse un muro de piedra
entre tu casa y la mía.
Es verdad. ¿No lo recuerdas?
Y cuando te vi de lejos
me eché en los ojos arena.
Pero montaba a caballo
y el caballo iba a tu puerta.
Con alfileres de plata
mi sangre se puso negra,
y el sueño me fue llenando
las carnes de mala hierba.
Que yo no tengo la culpa,
que la culpa es de la tierra
y de ese olor que te sale
de los pechos y las trenzas.
Novia:
¡Ay que sinrazón! No quiero
contigo cama ni cena,
y no hay minuto del día
que estar contigo no quiera,
porque me arrastras y voy,
y me dices que me vuelva
y te sigo por el aire
como una brizna de hierba.
He dejado a un hombre duro
y a toda su descendencia
en la mitad de la boda
y con la corona puesta.
Para ti será el castigo
y no quiero que lo sea.
¡Déjame sola! ¡Huye tú!
No hay nadie que te defienda.
Leonardo:
Pájaros de la mañana
por los árboles se quiebran.
La noche se está muriendo
en el filo de la piedra.
Vamos al rincón oscuro,
donde yo siempre te quiera,
que no me importa la gente,
ni el veneno que nos echa.



"Y te sigo por el aire como una brizna de hierba" 


viernes, 4 de diciembre de 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch up for WhatsOnStage award

Glad to hear that most of the plays I had the opportunity of watching in London are nominated for the WhatsOnStage Awards, as it was reported yesterday by the BBC.

Benedict Cumberbatch up for WhatsOnStage award


Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet


Not only Benedict Cumberbatch has been nominated but also other drama stars whose performances blew me away as a spectator.

Here are the names of those main actors who can bring magic to any stage around the entire world and have been nominated. We'll have to wait for a decision, I've already made my choice......
Best Actor in a Play:
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, Hamlet
  • James McAvoy, The Ruling Class
  • Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
  • Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King
  • Alex Hassell, Henry V

Best Actress in a Play:
  • Nicole Kidman, Photograph 51
  • Denise Gough, People, Places and Things
  • Lia Williams, Oresteia
  • Rosalie Craig, As You Like It
  • Harriet Walter, Death of a Salesman






jueves, 3 de diciembre de 2015

Photograph 51 | Teaser Trailer



Here I leave a 'tiny' teaser of PHOTOGRAPH 51, just to give you an idea of what a discovery like this may have been for those involved and even for us, normal people. And I pray you to see Nicole's brief performance in this video, it makes me speechless!!!

After having enjoyed the play in Noël Coward Theatre, it still gives me goosebumps as it reminds me of my Biology lessons. It sometimes comes to my mind the day when my teacher made the whole class stand up as a tribute to Rosalind Franklin, the woman, he said, who discovered the DNA but died before being awarded for such a wonderful discovery.

The world used to be a men's place, they say 'used to be' as it was something from the past, but the world, this round and bluish sphere is still being ruled by men. And doing things like this, where women perform as main characters should be, and it is, in fact, being, one of the multiple ways to overcome the non so distanct situation.


LET THE PLANE TAKE OFF, AND LET IT FLY HIGH  

PHOTOGRAPH 51. Starring Nicole Kidman



After more than two months, having been in 'no man's land', I come back with a recent, well no so recent play, that I had the opportunity of watching last October during my two week stay in London.

The DNA double helix, photograph taken by Rosalind Franklin at King's College in 1952.


The play's name, this time, PHOTOGRAPH 51. Well, you may be asking yourselves whether this is the name of a play or of a picture taken somewhere at some point. The answer is no more than both things at the same time. Apparently Anna Ziegler, the playwright, chose this name after a picture taken by Rosalind Franklin at King's College in the 50s, when London was the main target of the II World War.

However, the lines writen above may not give much information to those who are not related to science and don't know anything about the woman who discovered the DNA, well not the DNA but its functional structure (the well-known double helix), Rosalind Franklin (if you would like to fill your brain with new information about her life, do not hesitate to click on her name).

As a scientist Rosalind contributed substancially to Science and after her death, she was given the recognition she hadn't been given before. 

The play is no more than her story, marked by her irresistible taste for what was perceived as a man's profession and her willingness to do something relevant in life. The play is basically focused on the moment when she takes the picture, which she names Photograph 51 as a series of pictures taken up to that moment, and how both Watson and Crick try to do their best to steal information from other laboratories to find out the real structure of this molecule.

Nicole Kidman brings to life one of those people whose life was marked by something more than brilliance, a life also defined by an incurable disease and a sickly childhood.

Doubtless, PHOTOGRAPH 51 is more than worth watching. Specially for those who have never heard of this brilliant woman.

  


lunes, 14 de septiembre de 2015

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Gielgud Theatre, London)

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

'I was absolutely convinced that my novel was unfilmable and unstagable'-says Mark Haddon. Here is the proof that shows the opposite. Most rare things can happen in life, when there are people committed to make them possible!!!



Because if we believe in things, in these things we really care about, magic shows off and theatre is possible!!! Never say never!!! 


JUST LET THE PLANE TAKE OFF, AND LET IT FLY HIGH


domingo, 13 de septiembre de 2015

El Clan. 72nd Venice International Film Festival

EL CLAN
by Pablo Trapero


For this rainy Sunday, it could be a great idea to watch this creepy film for which director, Pablo Trapero was awarded in the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. 

Enjoy your Sunday!!!

Three Days in the Country. 'A play by the attactive british praywright Patrick Marber'


THREE DAYS IN THE COUNTRY 
by Patrick Marber

Hectic weeks lead to a lack of time in all senses. It's been a long time not writing any post. But here comes one...

Once upon a time Ivan Turgenev wrote a play called A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, a comedy of manners about the life in the country. But the story isn't that easy as human relationships take place and there comes the problem, specially in matters of love.

Love affairs can be very harmful not only for the two parts involved in them but also for those who are related to these people. But we cannot run away from our feelings. We are passionate beings that need to struggle against the fact of having these feelings. And then life becomes mad and full of desperation.






What does Sir Patrick Marber do brilliantly? Well, he takes this classic play by Turgenev, and make it a little bit more contemporary. Of course it's still a classic but with a sense of humour that accommodates to this new era. And here comes out this masterpiece!!!

I love classic stuff so that's the reason why this play was like a piece of fine glass made with love and tender. It shows human darkness and human light. It confronts our deepest instincts with much wisdom. And, as it always should be (well, maybe not always), the sense of humour is a constant which never runs away from the fact of the dramatic situation.

Nobody should miss this piece of art. I think it's on untill October the 21st so that if you are in London run to get your tickets. They truly fly away!!!


JUST LET THE PLANE TAKE OFF, AND LET IT FLY HIGH