Cervantes Theatre presents this month ‘Darwin’s Tortoise’ (La Tortuga de Darwin), a play by the renowned Spanish playwright, Juan Mayorga directed by Paula Paz. The show will be presented in both Spanish and English with a translation by David Johnston.
To commemorate such a special date Summerhall, in Edinburgh, will hold a 4 hours of nonstop public reading hosted by the contemporary Spanish writer Carlos Castán who will also be presenting his novel ‘Bad Light’.
Photo by David Ruiz
This month, the Spanish theatre production company, Ron Lalá, took its new performance ‘Somewhere in the Quijote’ to the Riverside Studios on the banks of the Thames in Hammersmith as part of the second Festival of Spanish Theatre in London. The festival was initiated last year by Mariví Rodríguez Quiñones, University lecturer of Spanish at King’s College, with the aim of promoting Spanish theatre in the UK.
Don Quixote is, for many British people, a quintessential staple of Spanish culture, and it’s no surprise that this ballet, choreographed by Cuban Carlos Acosta – who also dances the role of Basilio alongside Spanish ballerina Marianela Nuñez– has been seen as a showcase for all of that fiery Latino spirit that we Brits are convinced is an essential characteristic of our Mediterranean neighbours. And yet, somehow, there’s something about the whole production that doesn’t quite ring true.
The 23rd of April was world book day(1), which first celebrated by UNESCO in 1995 in order to encourage reading and to promote the publishing industry and the protection of the intellectual property rights of authors. This date was chosen because it marks the death of three major writers: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616).