The 'ESTeatro Farándula' Festival kicks off this Friday with 'Visiting Hour' by Alonso de Santos.

The Estepona City Council announces that the Municipal Theater Group 'Farándula', directed by Luque, will open on Friday, October 10, the 'ESTeatro Farándula' Theater Festival with the play 'Visiting Hour' by the author from Valladolid, J.L. Alonso de Santos. It will take place at 8:00 PM, in the Auditorium of the Padre Manuel Cultural Center.

The first edition of this theater festival will be held between October 10 and October 24 (on the days 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24 of October). This ambitious project includes seven theatrical works and stems from its members' love for theater and their eagerness to offer the public a wide range with quality works of different genres.

With this theatrical event, GMT 'Farándula', which has a history of more than 40 years on stage, aims to offer, enjoy, share, and consolidate theater as an essential part of Estepona's cultural life.

Contribution per day: €5. Special contribution for all 5 days: €20.

Program of Plays

The scheduled program is as follows:

-Day 10: 'Visiting Hour' by J.L. Alonso de Santos. (Synopsis: The action takes place in a hospital room where a woman visits her hospitalized daughter. In an effort to reignite her will to live, the mother uses all the tools at her disposal: humor, songs, irony, and a lot of love).

-Day 16: 'El Niceto y La Leoncia' by José Cedena (Synopsis: This is the story of newlyweds by contract and a mother-in-law included in the package... By calendar... A mess and a stubborn man... And a rush for offspring to arrive), and 'The Ashes of the Deceased' by Stella Manaut. (Synopsis: Dying is hard work! And if not, just ask the protagonists of this curious black comedy of microtheater, who are involved in fulfilling the last wish of a friend).

-Day 17: '¡Ay, Carmela!' by José Sanchis Sinisterra. (Synopsis: A couple of mediocre artists, Carmela and Paulino, who during the civil war scrape by performing in the villages of Republican Spain, accidentally cross into the Nationalist side, where they are captured and forced to perform for the Nationalist troops and some of their prisoners).

-Day 23: 'The Consultation' by Ángel Camacho Cabrera. (Synopsis: An elderly lady named Encarnita is in the waiting room of a medical consultation, dedicated to her knitting while waiting to be attended. Suddenly, her attention shifts to a young patient who disrupts the room), and 'Figures without Landscape' by Jorge Márquez. (Synopsis: Renata and Antolín are aboard a boat on the sea of their loneliness. The misunderstanding and indifference she feels confront the apathy and weariness he feels, who seems to have shed all prejudices).

-Day 24: 'Sunday Morning' by J.L. Alonso de Santos. (Synopsis: A middle-aged couple on various Sunday mornings, across the four seasons, with Vivaldi's music in the background. The situation, seemingly comic and trivial, is filled with surreal and dreamlike elements).

A Hundred Titles Since 1983

The Municipal Theater Group was founded in 1983, and debuted in 1984 with the play 'In the Burning Darkness' by Buero Vallejo. Since then, it has premiered almost a hundred titles of different theatrical genres.

Among the numerous awards received, notable is the one awarded at the XV Campillos Contest: best play and best female performance for Mª Victoria de Miguel with 'The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof', a free version of the play based on the text by the playwright Tennessee Williams, which also earned her the Best Play Award at the National Theater Contest 'Villa de Pizarra 2014'.

At the XIII Campillos Contest, two of its members: Rafa Alijas and Mar Berlanga, were also recognized as best performers in the well-known play by Adolfo Marsillach 'I Get Off at the Next, Are You?'. In 2011, two recognitions stand out: award for the best male performance to Miguel López for his role in 'Seagulls Underground' at the XI Campillos Contest and at the III Theater Contest of Olvera. That same year, it received the 'Torre Almenara 2011' Award as Best Cultural Entity, awarded by the 24 Horas Deportivas Foundation of Estepona.

Furthermore, GMT 'Farándula' won two awards in 2016 at the XVI Theater Contest 'Isidro Carbonero Villa de Campillos'. The show 'Moms', a comedic work by Marc Egea about two women sharing their experiences in the world of motherhood, won the award for best female performer for Mercedes Bazán and the best scenography. Since 1998, GMT 'Farándula' has been directed by Jesús Luque.