Pedro Páramo

One of the essential works of 20th-century Latin American literature; a story of stories where tenderness and violence are combined to condemn abuse of the oppressed and corruption. It is brought to the stage by a Catalan playwright.

A simple man, Pedro Páramo, manages to become the cacique [despot] of his village, Comala, a small town that he will squeeze dry and destroy until it is nothing more than a ghost town. Years later his son, Juan Preciado, returns to the village, crossing paths with the ghosts of those who lived there and discovering who his father really was and how he took advantage of the tiny village’s inhabitants, including his mother. It is a story about corruption that speaks to us of the mechanisms of power and how they are used all over the world for personal gain, based on a series of events that take place in a small community. The story of the father, the most important and corrupt man of Comala, and that of his son, who arrives in the village when it is already deserted and only the souls of former inhabitants walk the streets, alternate in a labyrinthine structure. The dramaturgy is the creation of Pau Miró, a director and playwright trained at the Institut del Teatre and the Sala Beckett, who first tackled the text in 2015, directing his own work entitled Comala, which was staged at the Almeria Teatre.

The production, starring Pablo Derqui and Vicky Peña, is directed by a major name in Catalan theatre, Mario Gas, an actor and a director of theatre and opera who has staged over one hundred productions. He has been awarded the most prestigious prizes, including the Butaca, the National Theatre award, several Max awards and one Ciutat de Barcelona prize in the performing arts category. He is also very closely linked to the history of the Grec Festival de Barcelona, where he has directed operas, theatre productions and musicals.