Lope de Vega premieres ‘According to José. From Seville to Saramago’ on the centenary of the birth of the Nobel Prize

SEVILLE, Oct. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Lope de Vega Theater hosts on Thursday 20 (8:00 p.m.) the premiere of the latest stage proposal by Sevillian director Rafael R. Villalobos, ‘Según José. From Seville to Saramago’ on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the birth of the Nobel Prize for Literature (November 16). With the author’s work as the protagonist, the show brings together several artists linked to the city to give shape to this “multidisciplinary polyptych” in which theatre, music and dance go hand in hand.

The piece is divided into four blocks based on four of the great Portuguese novels (‘Las intermitencias de la muerte’ (2005), ‘The gospel according to Jesus Christ’ (1991), ‘Memorial del convento’ (1982) and ‘Essay on blindness’ (1995). As if it were the old town of Seville itself, these blocks form a kind of labyrinth through which several artists linked to the city move, each one of them making their own approach to the work of the Nobel , returning his southern gazes as a tribute.

Saramago, named Favorite Son of Andalusia in 2007 for his links with this community that he considered his own and Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Seville in 1991, claimed the need to look south. In this sense, he pointed out before the audience that accompanied him in his investiture as Honoris Causa that “it is time to look, once and for all, to the South, respect the South, think about the South”, the City Council recalled this Tuesday in a note of press.

Rafael R. Villalobos, creator of the scenic space together with the Sevillian artist Cachito Vallés, as well as author of the dramaturgy, director and illuminator of the production, has brought together artists from different disciplines who will propose, on the Lope stage, an interpretation of some of the most emblematic characters in Saramago’s work. Thus, the cantaora Rocío Márquez embodies ‘La Muerte Enamorada’ by the cellist Juan Carlos Toribio, while the soprano Nicola Beller Carbone gives voice to María de Magdala together with the guitarist Pedro Rojas-Ogáyar.

For its part, the duo formed by the dancer Leonor Leal and the percussionist Antonio Moreno approach the domestic universe of Blimunda and Baltasar, and the dancer Pedro Berdäyes -National Dance Award winner in 2000– delves into the anguish of La girl in dark glasses The cast is completed by the voices of the interpreters Luis Tausía and Celia Vioque, as rapporteur and narrator; and the incidental music by Dani Llamas, created from the Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1998) and the poem Venho de longe, longe (Provavelmente Alegria, 1987).

This week’s programming for Lope de Vega also includes a concert with which the Sevillian band Maga will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their first album, ‘Maga’, and the end of a stage. ‘Cielo’ is the name that Miguel Rivera, Javi Vega and César Díaz have given to this concert-celebration scheduled for Saturday the 22nd (8:00 p.m.) which, with tickets sold out for weeks, is set to be “a milestone” in his career and an “indelible memory” for his audience.