Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs are the darlings of Catalan theatre. They know it perfectly well and, like two diligent children, act accordingly. They debuted at Àlex Rigola’s Lliure in 2007 with Teenager experience: straithen con freigthen: they were only eighteen years old. Since then, they have been premiering shows that have entertained and surprised both the public and critics in equal measure. Els Estunmen is, by all accounts, their biggest, craziest, and most ambitious production: an operatic superproduction with twenty-one performers on stage and an orchestra of nineteen musicians. This has been possible thanks to the complicity (and money) of four major theatres: the Lliure and the Liceu in Barcelona, and the Teatro Real and Teatros del Canal in Madrid.
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The beauty of it all is that, despite the ambition of the undertaking, Els Estunmen has all the characteristics of Albet and Borràs’s works: an absurd story, the tone of a B-movie, a wild sense of humor… The “stoned” dramaturgy of the two creators makes us imagine them writing and having a blast laughing at their antics and bad jokes. They know they can always make their dreams come true because they have been in the spotlight for almost twenty years, and because everyone (theatres, critics, and public) continues to buy into their wild ideas. On this occasion, the artistic team is top-notch: the music is composed by Fernando Velázquez (author of the soundtracks for El orfanato, Lo imposible or A Monster Calls), Max Glaenzel signs the set design, and Silvia Delagneau the costumes. We don’t want to imagine how much this show cost.
This is the drama of Evangelina, a desperate mother after her teenage son has killed several people in an attack. Like Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011), the mother struggles between incomprehension and terror: as she tries to understand the motives that led her son to commit a massacre, her hunger for revenge will grow, through a convoluted and very cinematic plot. Albet and Borràs, in tunics and laurel-crowned like classical poets, take a back seat as narrators who, laptop in hand, will almost live-write a story that reflects on the concept of the hero as the ultimate emblem of masculinity. Núria Lloansi is splendid in the role of the suffering mother: after seeing her in productions by Rodrigo García, Marta Galán, or Juan Navarro, it is a pleasure that she has been given a leading role in the Sala Fabià Puigserver. The opera singers lend their voices to the actors, with Sandra Fernández and Vicenç Esteve Madrid standing out in the role of the parents and countertenor Gabriel Díaz. José Ansaldi is the ideal performer for this production: the perfect combination of tenor and superhero.
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And the film specialists? A group of eight burly men embody the story (memorable the scene full of mothers, as if we were in a music video directed by Michel Gondry), performing the jumps and falls required by the action and briefly telling us their personal stories. In fact, we leave wanting to know more: children of military personnel, hyperactive children, ex-athletes who have turned danger into their lifestyle. Els Estunmen is the milestone (for now) of Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs: a sum of Els esqueiters, Atraco, paliza y muerte en Agbanäspach, Mammón or Falsestuff. A monumental trip, made with many resources, brilliant moments, and a lot of cheek. The scene with Quentin Tarantino pretty much saves the production. And really… Who said violence causes violence?
Els Estunmen
Libretto and direction: Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs. Music: Fernando Velázquez.
Teatre Lliure. Barcelona. Until May 3.