• Interview.Fernando Cayo, Creon in Mérida

13 times, with that of this edition, Antígona has been represented in the history of the Mérida Festival. But his deep, intense and, at times, devastating debate that the work raises between the absolute power and the cruelty of the rulers (represented by the contradictory King Creon) and the duty of justice and ethics of Antigone, never had as spectators the Kings of Spain and their two daughters, who supported the cultural world with their presence in this new normality so strange that you leave the aftermath of Covid-19.

In full debate on the figure of the institution, this classic tragedy - one of the most emotional ever written - opens emotional reflections on the role of the people in the face of tyranny , between human and divine laws, between liberty and inquisitorial absolutism. . "To be king is to reject being human," the Head of State, Felipe VI, listened attentively from his seat.

This has been the case throughout the centuries, and not only for those who came to power from cruelty. Also today - as the Mexican director David Gaitán puts it -, from the populism that brings up the debates without nuances, without grays. That is why this version is so rabidly topical, above the fact that the language used is contemporary -like the costumes- and until Gaitán makes Antigona sing and dance a rap. However, like the many comic winks and, within the context of the tragedy, nothing squeaks at any time, everything helps to keep the viewer in suspense and permanent connection, who is trapped from the first to the last moment of the representation.

This happens, fundamentally, both for the updated script of the tragedy, which at times becomes a comedy, and for the resounding performance of Fernando Cayo in the role of Creon, a very bad bad guy who also sheds some light on that message that he wants to convey to us. the director of the montage: life, let alone political power, is not reduced to the simple schemes of 'with you or against you'. Not everything is Twitter. Hence, this theatrical staging claims, more than ever, that in today's democracies there is a calmer, calmer debate, "arguing until the language is exhausted" -as actress Clara Sanchís points out in the role of the prosecutor Wisdom- , in a constant tribute to freedom of expression and fear of its current threats , along with the claiming role of women, subjected for centuries to being mere decorative elements.

The actor Fernando Cayo arrives with his powerful performance to monopolize the play within a scenography centered on an ellipse , where a public debate is held that in reality becomes a very summary judgment on Antigone, who has no escape - motu proprio - to her tragic end, although Creon offers him some way out that involves indignity and humiliation, an intellectual, human and reflective challenge that even casts doubt on the viewer, that empathizes with the powerful, sacrificed and contradictory Antigone and her loyal, firm and even epic convictions. The role -nothing easy- is solved with note and efficiency by Irene Arcos, debutant at the Festival, who has her best moments in the final part of the performance, wrapped by the aforementioned Clara Sanchís, Isabel Moreno as Isemen (Antígona's sister) , Jorge Mayor as Hemón and Elías González (Guardia), as well as a last choir that represents the peaceful civil disobedience of the people of Thebes, formed by 54 extras, who in the end plays the decisive role in the violent and emotional outcome to avoid an epilogue -the death sentence- irreversible due to the firm convictions of Antigone. The heroine avoids her punishment to save her honor , that of her family and, ultimately, that of all humanity in one of the most beautiful and cruel tragedies ever written and that this version dignifies with a more than convincing and appreciative.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • theater
  • culture

Music: Julia de Castro: "The great challenge for women is the body, feminine pleasure is conquest"

TheaterThe Almagro Festival returns in a "survival" version

CineAitana Sánchez-Gijón: "You should not be intimidated by the anti-feminist cavemen"

See links of interest

  • Last News
  • English translator
  • TV programming
  • Quixote
  • Work calendar
  • Daily horoscope
  • Santander League Ranking
  • League calendar
  • TV Movies
  • Themes