dIRECTOR /

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

INFO / CREDITS
CREATIVE TEAM & CAST

BASED ON A NON-FICTION WORK BY GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ

TEXT CO-ADAPTED BY IGNACIO GARCÍA MAY

CO-ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY MARC MONTSERRAT-DRUKKER

SET DESIGNER: JON BERRONDO

COSTUME DESIGNER:  MIREIA LLATGE

LIGHTING DESIGNER : ALBERT FAURA (A.A.I)

SOUND DESIGNER: FRANCISCO GRANDE

VIDEO DESIGNER: JOAN RODÓN

CAST: EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA (THE AUTHOR) / ÀNGEL LLÀCER (SAILOR)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:  LUCY LUMMIS

SYNOPSIS

GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ WAS WORKING FOR EL ESPECTADOR, A NEWSPAPER IN BOGOTA, WHEN IN FEBRUARY OF THAT YEAR EIGHT CREW MEMBERS OF THE CALDAS, A COLOMBIAN DESTROYER, WERE WASHED OVERBOARD AND DISAPPEARED. TEN DAYS LATER ONE OF THEM TURNED UP, BARELY ALIVE, ON A DESERTED BEACH IN NORTHERN COLOMBIA. THE STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED AS A SERIES OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES. THIS STAGE ADAPTATION IS BASED ON GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ'S ACCOUNT OF THAT SAILOR'S ORDEAL.

DIRECTOR'S HAND PROGRAMME NOTE

THE STORY OF A SHIPWRECKED SAILOR: WHO DRIFTED ON A LIFERAFT FOR TEN DAYS WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER, WAS PROCLAIMED A NATIONAL HERO, KISSED BY BEAUTY QUEENS, MADE RICH THROUGH PUBLICITY, AND THEN SPURNED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND FORGOTTEN FOR ALL TIME. THAT IS THE VERY LONG TITLE OF ONE OF THE MOST CAPTIVATING TRUE STORIES I'VE EVER READ. IT WAS WRITTEN IN 1955 BY A YOUNG REPORTER CALLED GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ FOR THE NEWSPAPER EL ESPECTADOR IN BOGOTA. IT IS A FANTASTIC ADVENTURE THAT SHIFTS BETWEEN THE TRAGEDY OF REAL EVENTS AND THE UNEXPECTED AND CRUEL SENSE OF HUMOUR OF THE TWO CENTRAL FIGURES: THE REPORTER AND THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR. THIS EXCELLENT REPORT, WHICH TRANSFORMS EVERY WRITTEN WORD INTO A THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE IMMENSE STORYTELLING TALENT THAT "GABO" DISPLAYED IN HIS EARLIEST WORK, LED ME TO THINK THAT THIS WAS A NARRATIVE THAT COULD EASILY BE TRANSFORMED INTO DRAMATIC MATERIAL. IT IS A PLAY, A TALE, WHICH IMMERSES THE AUDIENCE IN THE LONELINESS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL OF A HUMAN BEING WHO IS ABOUT TO DIE, ABOUT TO BE SUFFOCATED BY LIES AND SILENCE, AND DEVOURED BY THE SHARKS OF THE CARIBBEAN AND THE PREDATORS OF A DICTATORSHIP. AND IF IT IS EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA AND ANGEL LLÀCER WHO ARE TELLING THE TALE... THEN I'M THE ONE WHO IS SPEECHLESS.

CO-ADAPTOR  &  DIRECTOR 
BARCELONA,  2016
THEATRE: THE WORLD PREMIERE WAS AT THE TEATRE LLIURE (GRÀCIA) ON NOVEMBER 3RD 2016
PRODUCED BY: TEATRE LLIURE / BITÒ PRODUCCIONS

CAST: EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA / ÀNGEL LLÀCER

MARC MONTSERRAT DRUKKER THRILLED BARCELONA’S TEATRE LLIURE ON THE OPENING-NIGHT OF THE STAGE VERSION OF GARCIA MARQUEZ’S ACCLAIMED BOOK “THE STORY OF A SHIPWRECKED SAILOR” (…) HE WAS FACED WITH THE DIFFICULTY OF TRANSFORMING AN EXCELLENT JOURNALISTIC TEXT INTO GOOD DRAMATIC MATERIAL. THE WORLD PREMIERE OF MARC MONTSERRAT-DRUKKER’S STAGE VERSION AT THE LLIURE THEATRE IN GRACIA ON THURSDAY EVENING, WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED AND ENDORSES THE STRENGTH OF A PRODUCTION WHICH HAS CLEVERLY FUSED SUCH DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. IN HIS WORK OF NON-FICTION, THE AUTHOR OF ‘ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE’ SHOWED HIS SKILLS AS A STORYTELLER AND MONTSERRAT-DRUKKER, WITH IGNACIO GARCIA MAY’S ADAPTATION, MAKES THE MOST OF THE BOOK’S “THREE-DIMENSIONAL LANGUAGE”. JON BERRONDO’S FUNCTIONAL SET DESIGN IS ONE OF THE KEYS TO THE PLAY’S SUCCESS. (…) THE MAGIC REALISM FEEDS THE THEATRICAL NARRATIVE IN THIS STORY OF ANGUISH AND LONELINESS PUNCTUATED WITH MOMENTS OF BLACK HUMOUR. (…) ÀNGEL LLÀCER SHOWS HIS GREAT PHYSICAL AND INTERPRETATIVE RESOURCES (…) AND A MULTILAYERED PERSONALITY THAT PLAYS COMICALLY WITH TANGOS, COLOMBIAN SONGS AND ADVERTISEMENTS. EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA LENDS HIS SOLID STAGE PRESENCE AND PERFECT DICTION AS GARCIA MARQUEZ’S JOURNALIST (…) THE PLAY COMMANDS INTEREST THROUGHOUT ON THE GROUNDS OF THE CREDIBILITY AND EMOTION TRANSMITTED BY ITS STAGING.

EL PERIÓDICO / CÉSAR LÓPEZ ROSELL

MARC MONTSERRAT-DRUKKER HAS TAKEN ON THE DIFFICULT CHALLENGE OF TRANSFORMING GARCÍA MARQUEZ’S BRILLIANT JOURNALISTIC TEXT INTO A THEATRICAL FORMAT WITH EQUALLY BRILLIANT RESULTS. THE STORY BECOMES A TALE THAT ABSORBS AND ENGAGES US FROM START TO FINISH (…) ANGEL LLÁCER, WITH HIS FIRST-PERSON-SINGULAR NARRATIONS AND IN-SITU ENACTIONS OF SCENES, REGALES US WITH MANY REGISTERS, RANGING FROM ANGUISH TO HUMOR, AND EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA ENGAGES WITH HIM, NOT JUST TO WRITE THE CASTAWAY’S STORY, BUT ALSO TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE. (…) AND JON BERRONDO’S SET IS SECOND TO NONE (…)

ENPLATEA.COM / MILENA VÁZQUEZ

THE OPENING SCENES OF THE PLAY SEEM TO HAVE BEEN EXPRESSLY DESIGNED FOR LLÀCER TO SHOW EVERYONE JUST HOW, EVEN IN A HIGHLY INTENSE DRAMATIC REGISTER, HE EXCELS AT MOVING COMFORTABLY AND CONVINCINGLY TO A DEGREE WHICH IS HARD TO MATCH. AND, WHAT’S MORE, MARC MONTSERRAT-DRUKKER HAS MET A PROFESSIONAL WHO HAS ADAPTED WELL TO HIS DIRECTOR’S DEMANDS (…)

LA VANGUARDIA / JOAN-ANTON BENACH

A MAGICAL ADAPTATION OF “THE STORY OF A SHIPWRECKED SAILOR” WHICH OPENED AT BARCELONA’S TEATRE LLIURE IN GRACIA. (…) ALL THE ELEMENTS (…) ARE BLENDED HARMONIOUSLY AND PRESENTED AS A MIRACULOUS BLOCK OF TALENT, FROM THE MAGNIFICENT STAGING OF THE WORK, THE IMAGINATIVE SCENERY, SOUND AND LIGHTING, THE TRAGICOMIC BRILLIANCE OF THE DIALOGUES, THE PRODIGIOUS OVERALL CONCEPTION OF THE SHOW AND THE DIRECTING AND, OF COURSE, THE EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCES OF BOTH ACTORS (…) THE PERFORMERS ARE ACCOMPLICES AND COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER THROUGHOUT, SWITCHING FROM NARRATORS TO MAIN CHARACTERS AND MOVING ABOUT THE STAGE WITH THE DYNAMISM PROVIDED BY FAST-MOVING, WELL LINKED DIALOGUES AND GOOD SOLID STAGE DIRECTING. AN ORIGINAL, AGILE AND FASCINATING SHOW THAT NO THEATRE LOVER SHOULD MISS. THIS EVENING’S PERFORMANCE PLAYED TO A FULL HOUSE AND I TRUST THAT THIS WILL BE REPEATED IN ALL THE REMAINING SESSIONS UNTIL DECEMBER 4th.

MUSIC AND LYRICS  / GILBERT FADDA

BUT ONE OF THE MAIN ATTRACTIONS OF THE PRODUCTION IS THE RECREATION OF THE SHIPWRECK (…) IT DOES NOT MAKE DEMANDS ON THE AUDIENCE’S IMAGINATION BUT RATHER TRANSPORTS US SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY TO A PATINA OF MAGICAL REALISM THAT STRONGLY CONVEYS GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ’S STORY (…) AND ALBERT FAURA’S THOUGHTFUL AND EVOCATIVE LIGHTING COMPLETES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE STAGING TOGETHER WITH SET DESIGNER JON BERRONDO’S INGENIOUS MULTI-USE TABLE.

CLIP DE TEATRE / ANDREU SOTORRA

***** THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR AND THE REPORTER ARE PLAYED BY ÀNGEL LLÀCER AND EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA. BOTH ARE EXTRAORDINARY IN THEIR ROLES WITH PERFECT DOSES OF BOTH DRAMA AND HUMOUR. (…) JON BERRONDO’S MAGNIFICENT AND ORIGINAL SET TAKES US FROM AN OFFICE TO A MAGICAL WORLD WHERE THE ADVENTURE IS RECREATED WITH METICULOUS STAGING ACCOMPANIED BY AUDIOVISUALS TO COMPLEMENT THE SCENES AT SEA.

VOLTAR I VOLTAR / IMMA BARBA Y MIQUEL GASCÓN 

 @PINTO_MTERESA A SENSATIONAL PIECE OF WORK: #RELATODEUNNAUFRAGO #GABRIELGARCÍAMÁRQUEZ AT THE @TEATRELLIURE @MARCMONTSERRATD @AGENCIABALCELLS @ANGELLLACER. CONGRATULATIONS!

 @XRIUDOR  #RELATONAUFRAGO EXCELS IN ITS SURPRISING STAGING, DEMANDS THE UTMOST FROM ANGEL LLACER, AN AMAZING ADVENTURE REVOLVING AROUND LITTLE MORE THAN A TABLE.

  @ROSABADIARB  BRILLIANT PERFORMANCES FROM EMILIO G.CABA & @ANGELLLACER A #RELATODEUNNAUFRAGO AT THE @TEATRELLIURE. NOT EVEN TOM HANKS DOES IT BETTER

 @MARTALSOBRE  A SUPERB ADAPTATION OF #RELATODEUNNÁUFRAGO AT THE @TEATRELLIURE WITH #EMILIOGUTIÉRREZCABA & @ANGELLLACER!

 @GEMMAMOZAS  VIBRANT, INTENSE AND SURPRISING. AN INGENIOUS PRODUCTION THAT ENTHRALLS YOU FROM THE VERY FIRST SECOND. @TEATRELLIURE #RELATONAUFRAGO

 @LAUDELIARNAU  YOU MUST SEE THE CREATIVITY OF THE TEAM DIRECTED BY @MARCMONTSERRATD AND #EMILIOGUTIÉRREZCAVA & @ANGELLLACER’S PERFORMANCE #RELATODEUNNÁUFRAGO AT THE @TEATRELLIURE

 @CARLES_M  SIMPLY FANTASTIC. IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN. MUST BE SEEN. #RELATONAUFRAGO AT THE LLIURE, WITH EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ CABA & @ANGELLLACER

 @MELINDROACID  TENDER, DRAMATIC, FUNNY… STUNNING #EMILIOGUTIÉRREZCABA & @ANGELLLACER IN #RELATODEUNNAUFRAGO AT THE @TEATRELLIURE #TEATREPERLAVENA

 @JESUSZAPATERO  A VERY GOOD STAGE PRODUCTION OF #RELATONAUFRAGO AT THE @TEATRELLIURE .

 

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