ACTORS!

I love them and hate them. I would party with them every day and put a restraining order on them at the same time. They are/you are the soul of fiction, and yet you know how to have an overwhelming energy as people.

That initial exclamation belongs to Iván, a character played by Jaume Ibáñez in “Deseo y placer”. That’s how it sounds, in a derogatory way: Actors!

Where I really enjoy these creations are in the rehearsal process, in those days where the actors and I create a secret society under a unique direction.

I believe that they, Jaume, Estela, Fer, Vicente, Robert and Rebe give soul and body to these torn characters that populate “Desire and Pleasure”.

And for / to them, a few words:

JAUME IBÁÑEZ is IVÁN

Despite my initial doubts, because the modesty of Ivan’s role is very important, I think Jaume and myself have jumped into the pool. Jaume does one of the hardest jobs in the whole play. Understanding Ivan without judging him is going to be a challenge for the viewer. Like Ray in David Harrower’s Blackbird, Ivan is on the edge but in that edge is the discovery. And I think Jaume reaches moments of extreme nudity.

Yes, I don’t deny it, I have a predilection for Mr. Ibáñez. I have worked with him twice and I would do it again. He is, saving distances and ages, the Pere Arquillué of Valencian theater. He has the courage, energy and finesse that the Catalan actor has been showing us for years. Ole Jaume.

ESTELA MUÑOZ is HELENA

A curious thing happened to me with Estela: although we had known each other for a long time, we had never worked together. The character she plays, Helena, has an overwhelming fragility and determination. She seems to pass without a trace until life proves otherwise.

I think Estela won me over the first time I saw her dance on stage. Yes, it seems silly but in that scene (you will see it) defines Helena very well: she immediately understood where her story was going, and left the rest of the audience speechless. And besides, she has a great virtue: she makes Helena’s defects (physical and/or emotional) into virtues. You love Helena because it pisses you off that she’s gone forever, you love Estela because she makes easy something that in Helena could be difficult, knowing how to combine desire and pleasure.

FERNANDO SOLER as CARLOS (actor playing GILLES DELEUZE)

Fer gives his all. And more. And he doesn’t give up. And he gives his all. Fer’s great virtue is that he is always present in the whole process, but not only as a performer, but as a general arranger: a lamp, a prop or costume element, a nuance for another character, everything. When I needed something, anything, I looked to Fer. If Fer wasn’t there, there would be no Caterva, it’s very clear to me. It may be a metaphor, but Fer waters the plants in the apartment where we rehearse. According to his theory, they are marking the time of Caterva, when they die, they will no longer have a reason to exist.

And Fer has had to deal with two characters, Gilles Deleuze and Carlos. A philosopher and someone who cannot find someone to love. The nakedness of his Carlos leaves you breathless. Searching to find nothing. Fabulous.

VICENTE MATEO BAEZA as MIGUEL (actor playing MICHEL FOUCAULT)

It has been difficult for us to find Foucault. I have to admit that the biggest challenge for Vicente has been to make this great philosopher close to us and then turn around and be Miguel, the rascal we all carry inside. And Vicente is so methodical that we have suffered this step by step, because working from a physical trait is a bitch. But he does not give up, he continues in the breach.

Now the result: do not take into account what he says, what Miguel, his character, does. In his impulsiveness and his being back from everything you will find your wild mirror.

ROBERT DE LA FUENTE is JORGE

You can be late for rehearsal, yes, and be the soul of “Desire and Pleasure”, too. Robert is not only the play’s poster boy, no, but he gets into Jorge’s skin almost unintentionally and the moment you turn around he is crying, or laughing like him. He is the creative actor par excellence. He turns the scene upside down, proposes changes, modifies perceptions, and it works. A great part of his character’s discoveries are his. No doubt about it. Even everything he plays with the guitar.

He reminds me a lot of Toni Agustí. They are actors you always want to work with because they are generators of action, of ideas, of outbreaks. “Action brings accident” I always tell him.

And Robert is an accident. But a good one. He will leave you stunned.

REBECA ARTAL-DATO is SHEILA (actress playing SILVIA BAREI).

I have left for the end the benjamin of the company, Rebe. I’m looking forward to seeing her in “Revolución” because I missed it, but with the two characters she develops in “Deseo y placer”, Sheila and Silvia Barei, Rebe is going to make you swallow saliva. There is Nina desnortada who is Sheila (don’t you remember La gaviota?), who is Rebe, she does on stage what is not normal. She was born with theater in her veins. She is impressive. She makes what could seem crude and pornographic to be tender and rapturous.

The guys at Caterva told me that they convinced Rebe to do “Deseo y placer” telling her, jokingly, that with this play she was going to win the Crisàlide Award for the best newcomer of the year. Now seeing her, it is clear to me: the fair thing would be to nominate her, and to give it to her. Because I warn you: an erupting volcano is going to explode and her name is Rebeca Artal-Dato. You’ll prove me right.

© Photos Clara Muñoz