Jabetín Theater: timeless tales never go out of style

Paraphrasing the legendary 'Un, dos, tres', they are a couple and residents in Malaga. But besides that, Eva Martínez and Alejandro Lozano are the driving force behind Jabetín Teatro, a local company that has been entertaining both young and old from the stage for fifteen years. They specialize in classic tales, thus they have performed timeless stories like 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Snow White', 'The Three Little Pigs', 'Puss in Boots', and 'Alice in Wonderland', among others.

On October 16, 2010, they premiered 'Little Red Riding Hood' at the Alameda Theater, and they haven't stopped since. They insist that there are still classics to adapt, and for example, for their 15th anniversary, they premiered 'Robin Hood', a production they had not yet tackled. Despite the company's extensive experience, they continue to strive to innovate and surprise. In fact, one of the hallmarks of Jabetín Teatro is that, although the performances start with a set script, there is room for improvisation, allowing each character to add their own unexpected joke or phrase. Another hallmark is the common thread: the white rabbit, who serves as the narrator in each story. The third key is reflection: every show offers or ends with a moral, a message with values, as part of the legacy left by its creators. The fourth premise is the duration of the show, about an hour, to avoid saturation.

And the last one that never fails, to the delight of the audience: taking a photo with the main characters of the story at the end of the play.

Additionally, a few minutes before each performance, they observe the attending audience to see what surprises can be added to the show depending on the average age, and sometimes some of those improvised jokes have become part of the show due to their great reception.

Today, Jabetín Teatro has a cast of ten actors, plus stage managers or other technicians as needed. Each production features four or five actors but, as Lozano and Martínez explain with a laugh, "that doesn't mean there are only five characters, but rather there are times when each person plays two or three roles, they go a bit crazy."

After several years at the now-closed Alameda Theater, where they offered more than 140 performances, they currently carry out most of their shows at La Cochera Cabaret, but they have also performed in Ave María schools, at the Eduardo Ocón auditorium, in some schools and even outside of Malaga capital, particularly in the province like Mijas, Estepona, Torre del Mar, Torremolinos, or Nerja. They also often go to Seville and Córdoba and other points in Andalusia like Granada or Cádiz, or even Madrid, where a few years ago they were on the bill for a month straight.

And all this without neglecting their professions as teachers, so on weekends they swap the blackboard for the van, the one the company members board to attend each setup together. Thus, what started as "a hobby" that could be combined with their jobs has transformed into "a beautiful madness that we enjoy a lot" despite the efforts it entails. Since its foundation, they have created thirteen adaptations of classic tales, which despite the passage of time include messages that remain very relevant in society and which usually present variations from one season to another. For example, in the actors who play them, and Lozano and Martínez cite a specific example: "there is the case of someone who has played the wolf and later on gets to be Little Red Riding Hood. It's interesting to see how each person brings a different touch to the characters, each one leaves their mark, and it enriches a lot," they highlight.

'Little Red Riding Hood', in addition to being their first staging, is one of the favorite shows of the founders of Jabetín Teatro, but they also highlight "how fun Heidi is, how complete Beauty and the Beast is, the beauty of Pinocchio, or the harshness that Hansel and Gretel can have."

Additionally, they proudly note that there are two actors who have been with them from the beginning, but they also now have children of some former team members. "In total, we may have created about seventy or eighty original characters, and about 40 actors have passed through Jabetín," Lozano highlights. Looking back, 'The Three Little Pigs' is the one they have performed most often, "about 160 or 170 times," followed by 'Little Red Riding Hood', which is close to 130, and then 'Beauty and the Beast'... "in total, we have already performed more than 650 times," they confirm, satisfied.

In their 15 years of existence, they highly value the reception from the audience, some of whom fill them with pride by telling them that they went to see their plays with their parents as children and now go with their own children. But undoubtedly, they highlight as their "number one fan" Lola, the mother of one of their actresses (Mónica Gutiérrez) who, until before she passed away, always went to see their productions.

How long will Jabetín continue? As Alejandro Lozano emphasizes, "as long as it can be. It will be as long as she (Eva, the scriptwriter) has the drive to write, we still have many tales to do. Hopefully, it can be another 15 years more. And also with our theater workshops in schools or associations." The sum, they admit, is tiring, but also very rewarding, which is why they have no doubt that the show must go on.