
***** NOMINATED FOR 4 "BUTACA" 2013 AWARDS INCLUDING BEST PRODUCTION (CATALONIA'S XIX ANNUAL THEATRE AWARDS)
INFO / CREDITS
L'ONADA (THE WAVE) IS A NEW PLAY, CREATED BY STAGE DIRECTOR MARC MONTSERRAT DRUKKER AND PLAYWRIGHT IGNACIO GARCÍA MAY, WHICH IS BASED ON AN ACTUAL EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER RON JONES IN 1967. UNLIKE OTHER PREVIOUS PROJECTS INSPIRED BY THE EXPERIMENT IN QUESTION, MARC AND IGNACIO'S STAGE VERSION DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE CENTRAL STORY TO CONSTRUCT A MORE OR LESS CONVENTIONAL THRILLER, BUT RATHER STICKS TO THE FACTS AS FAITHFULLY AS POSSIBLE, IN KEEPING WITH HOW THEY WERE ACTUALLY DESCRIBED BY JONES HIMSELF IN VARIOUS ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS AND LATER COMPILED BY SEVERAL OF THE STUDENTS WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE EXPERIMENT. IT IS NOT, THEREFORE, AN ADAPTATION OF SUCH FILMS OR INDEED ANY OTHER FILM, BUT RATHER AN ORIGINAL TEXT BASED ON EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH. IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE, IT WAS NECESSARY TO STUDY AND REFLECT UPON THE MATERIAL IN DEPTH AND, IN THE CASE OF THE PLAY’S DIRECTOR, MARC MONTSERRAT DRUKKER, SUCH AN UNDERTAKING INVOLVED A PERIOD OF SEVERAL YEARS. IT IS IN SUCH A CONTEXT, THEREFORE, THAT THE DIRECTOR AND THE PLAYWRIGHT WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE TO TWO OF THE ORIGINAL PARTICIPANTS IN THE EXPERIMENT, PHILIP NEEL AND MARK HANCOCK, FOR THEIR INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS, AND ALSO TO RON JONES HIMSELF, WITH ALL OF WHOM THEY WERE IN DIRECT CONTACT WHEN CONSTRUCTING THE PLAY. CLEARLY, AND FOR DRAMATURGICAL REASONS, IT WAS NECESSARY TO CHANGE CERTAIN DETAILS (NAMES AND SITUATIONS) AND TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT. THE FACT THAT THE PLAY, WHICH IS PREDOMINANTLY ABOUT FREEDOM, WAS PREMIERED AT A THEATRE WITH THE WORD “FREE” FORMING HALF OF ITS NAME (BARCELONA’S TEATRE LLIURE – FREE THEATRE) IS A TRULY HAPPY COINCIDENCE.
CREATIVE TEAM & CAST
A NEW PLAY CO-CREATED BY:
MARC MONTSERRAT DRUKKER / IGNACIO GARCÍA MAY
BASED ON AN ACTUAL EXPERIMENT BY RON JONES
WRITTEN BY IGNACIO GARCÍA MAY
CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY MARC MONTSERRAT DRUKKER
(TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH INTO CATALAN BY: CRISTINA GENEBAT)
SET DESIGNER: JON BERRONDO
COSTUME DESIGNER: MARÍA ARAUJO
LIGHTING DESIGNER : ALBERT FAURA (A.A.I)
SOUND DESIGNERS: FRANCISCO GRANDE / IGOR PINTO
VIDEO DISIGNER : XAVIER BERGÉS
HAIR & MAKE-UP DISIGNER: TONI SANTOS
CAST: EDUARD FARELO (RON JONES) / BORIS CARTES / MALCOM MCCARTHY/ MARTA OSSÓ / ALBA RIBAS / ANDREA ROS / MARTÍ SALVAT / JOAN SUREDA / JORDI ROYO (VOICE-OVER)
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: TONI GONZÁLEZ LILLO
ASSISTANT SET DESIGNER: JOSE NOVOA
ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER: MIREIA LLATGE.
VIDEO ARCHIVES: FEDERICO SZARFER
STAGE MANAGER: MARIA ROSALES
SYNOPSIS
CALIFORNIA IN THE 1960S. THE VIETNAM WAR, ROCK MUSIC AND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S MARCHES AGAINST RACISM ARE THE MAIN SUBJECTS OF EVERYDAY CONVERSATION. RON JONES, A YOUNG AND CHARISMATIC HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHER, DECIDES TO TEACH HIS HISTORY STUDENTS HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR A SOCIETY, LIKE GERMANY IN THE 1930S AND 1940S, TO GIVE WAY TO NAZISM AND CONCENTRATION CAMPS. IN ORDER TO DO THIS, HE CONDUCTED AN EXPERIMENT: OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL WEEKS, HIS PUPILS WERE TO FOLLOW A SET OF STRICT RULES WHICH WOULD ALLOW THEM TO EXPERIENCE, AT FIRST HAND AND FROM WITHIN, JUST HOW EASY IT WAS TO BECOME PART OF A TOTALITARIAN APPARATUS. THE STUDENTS AGREED, AT FIRST RELUCTANTLY, BUT THEN WITH GROWING ENTHUSIASM, UNTIL THE EXPERIMENT THREATENED TO GET OUT OF JONES' HAND…