Six Reasons Why You Should Start the Year at the Theater

The Málaga Festival begins. The other Málaga Festival. The one that has been calling the city to its two municipal coliseums, Teatro Cervantes and Teatro Echegaray, for 43 years to engage in what Peter Brooks defined as: "A man walks across an empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and that is all that is needed for an act of theatre." From January 8 to February 1, 25 theater plays will grace the stages of Málaga in the First Act of the Festival, and here we tell you what you need to keep in mind.

I imagine that when Albert Boadella founded Els Joglars in 1962, alongside Carlota Soldevila and Anton Font, eager to provoke with their productions (at a time when provocation could land you in jail, as Boadella well knows), he would not have envisioned being here sixty years later, nor that his irreverence would continue to be so necessary. Or maybe he did, who knows. This year, the Teatro de Málaga has awarded them the most important prize for an independent company. I'm not referring to Málaga de Teatro 2026, which doesn't put food on the table, but to produce and premiere their latest show: 'El retablo de las maravillas'. An adaptation of Cervantes' interlude by Boadella and Ramón Fontserè that promises to wax and polish the factual powers of this country through satire and humor. A marvel in two performances: January 9 and 10.

18 women sign, either solo or in collaboration, as adaptors or adapted, the dramaturgies of these first 25 works, probably the largest representation of female authors in the history of the Festival. From an essential writer like Marguerite Duras comes 'La música', featuring Ana Duato and Darío Grandinetti, directed by Magüi Mira. And Heidi Steinhardt has adapted for Anabel Alonso 'La mujer rota', by Simone de Beauvoir.

We have the contemporary perspective of creators who are shaping the discourse like Amanda Gronich, co-author with Moisés Kaufman of 'Blaubeeren', a 2024 Pulitzer finalist; or the French actress and author Salomé Lelouch, who brings together around 'Better not to say it', in a version by Mercedes Morán, Imanol Arias and María Barranco. There is also room for Andalusian creators like Ana López Segovia, who signs and directs 'La reina brava', or the woman from Málaga, María Beltrán, who adapts Moratín’s classic 'El sí de las niñas' for the company Jóvenes Clásicos.

Pepa Gamboa adapts and directs 'La casa de Bernarda Alba', by Lorca; Rakel Camacho does the same with 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant', by Fassbinder; and Marta Torres adapts 'La barraca', by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, for Magüi Mira to do a double act as director in this edition of the Festival.

With Pinter's classic 'The Homecoming' we enjoy, for the last time, Fran Perea on the stages of Teatro Cervantes. Last year he attended the Festival in his capacity as director in '#YoSostenido. Sonata for a Broken Toy', and almost three years later he returns, as an actor, to his home, with 'The Effect', by the British playwright Lucy Prebble. A text, and a staging, that received very good reviews at its premiere at Teatros del Canal in Madrid in April last year. The theme is intriguing: during a clinical trial to test an antidepressant, two volunteers, Tristan and Connie, fall in love. But of course, they don't know if it's the effect of the medication or if they really like each other. Perea is joined by Alicia Borrachero, Elena Rivera, and Itzan Escamilla, directed by Juan Carlos Fisher. We will see if the Perea effect is noticeable in his hometown on January 19.

Once again, this year's program at Teatro Echegaray is filled with productions from local companies, eternal aspirants to share their work under the canvas of Bernardo Ferrándiz. There's a lot of drama this year. The company Aeterno will open with 'El patio número 3', by Víctor Muñoz, a drama with the civil war as a backdrop that was already seen at the ESAD in November last year.

This will be followed by the premiere of 'Cría cuervos', by the company Teatro del Náufrago, with text and direction by Carmen Vega, which repeats after the good reception of 'Los perros flacos' last edition. A proposal that comes preceded by a good tour in Andalusian theaters is 'Love (A) Death', the first scenic work by Las Lunas, developed in the Artistic Residencies program of the Andalusian Agency of Cultural Institutions. Its creators, Ana Luna and Luna Navajas, explore the reality of young people with performative touches.

The youngest will also be able to enjoy the Festival with 'Tuc', a premiere with puppets by the veteran Pata Teatro where Macarena Pérez Bravo and Cynthia García participate. And another well-known artist from the land, Paco Pozo, signs, directs, and stars in 'Canaán', about the drama of immigration. The local proposal closes with 'Fake Reality', written and directed by Chico García for Induo Teatro, which delves into the complex universe of teenagers.

The other generation of '27, that strange family that used theater and humor to endure the dim light of the dictatorship, had in Miguel Mihura a representative of what has come to be called theater of the absurd, which is how they usually refer to theater that has nothing that resembles it. That was the case at the time, perhaps that's why it took 20 years to premiere 'Three Top Hats', and it is still the case now, perhaps that's why his theater is unjustly ignored. That's why it's surprising that such a young author, Adrián Perea, not yet 30, has made the sublime decision to write, with mastery and tenderness, a biopic without syrup called 'Mihura, the Last Comedian'.

In the Max Aub room of Matadero, I greatly enjoyed that mix of nostalgia and scenic daring that director Beatriz Jaén has imprinted on the staging, and the chemistry of a cast that really enjoys themselves, with Rulo Pardo, David Castillo, Esperanza Elipe, Esther Isla, Kevin de la Rosa, Paloma Córdoba, and Nacho Almeida, and where, by the way, there is no gentleman from Murcia. January 19 at the Teatro Cervantes.

On the other hand, I'm very eager to see Juan Echanove and Joaquín Climent in 'Essence', a play recently premiered, you could say, since it was first staged in October at the Teatro Español. The theater of Madrid's Ignacio García May, the author, is always interesting and intelligent, although it has not been recognized as much as others of his generation. And perhaps with this play, his consecration will finally arrive, according to what has been written about it. Two friends meet, waiting for a mysterious author while a delicate game of perceptions and conspiracies takes place. Directed by Eduardo Vasco, it will be seen on January 22 and 23 at the Teatro Echegaray.

As Brooks said: for it to be theater, someone has to watch. That's how important the audience is. In the first half of this decade, the Theater Festival sold an average of 20,514 tickets per year, slightly less than the 22,396 of the last half of the previous decade, according to data from the transparency portal of the managing society Málaga ProCultura. However, the weight with respect to the total tickets sold per year has been increasing, from 10.8% to 15.2%. This seems to demonstrate a greater commitment to concentrate at the beginning of the year the best productions in the country to create a fan base. So it's now or never, there's no excuse not to include theater among your resolutions for 2026.