Alfonso Sanchez and Alberto Lopez, an actor from Seville, 1976, form the group known as Los Compadres. This fruitful association has produced many successful plays and films. They will be joined by Carmen Canivell and Antonia Gomez, who are both actors in Seville, 1976. This weekend they close the season at the Isabel la Catolica Theater’s season with the successful show “Tribute to the Alvarez Quinteros”.
-Tell us about the origin of the show you are presenting in Granada today and tomorrow.
We are marking the 150th anniversary the birth of Serafin Quintero Quintero and will also be remembering Joaquin next. It was nice to recall the figures of these two Andalusian authors who have been translated into nearly twenty languages and are among the most successful in Spanish theater history. Arturo Perez Reverte, our friend, ignited the idea for this project and challenged us to remember the contributions of these authors, unfairly reviled.
It is quite curious that Spain has lost such important authors.
And not just in Spain. Their works were represented in Latin America for a long time by the Alvarez Quinteros. Because they had brought with them a small piece of Spain in the shape of plays, the emigrants were eager to see them. They claim that they cried when they left the theater, in order to hear the accents and the soniquete that linked them with their homelands.
How is it that the works of the brothers can show the Andalusia?
It is an Andalusia with no complexes, happy, full of stories that are filled with truth, humanity, and joy. These short, humorous skits are intended to be accessible to all audiences. However, they also convey very important values that are necessary in today’s society.
-Why do we then stop looking at his works?
I think that certain cultural elites didn’t like the Quinteros. They were called dandruff, too popular and poor, and they were also considered old and unworthy. We saw Ibsen and Chekhov in our classes at the School of Dramatic Art. Although I don’t know why they were banned they looked at me badly when you raised the possibility of representing them. You get to know them and you can see the quality of their lives. That is what we strive to achieve.
-What is the best way to see the show in Granada?
It consists of four skits as well as a monologue. We didn’t have to adapt anything and we fully respect the original texts, even though they were written over a century ago. “Ganas de renir” is a collection of stories that reveals the conflict between the sexes we have been dragging since Atapuerca. What happens when you have a fight in a house? When the woman wants… (laughs). This sainete is when the protagonist wants to fight and triggers the plot.
-Then there will be complicity at the stalls.
-Yes, couples can be seen nudging one another… (laughter).
– “Blood Fat”, another skit, is a portrait that comes from right around here.
It’s about a man who is patient, who has been chatting with a coworker for eight long months but can’t make the decision to move on. This happened to me too in high school.
-Nothing is more current than one of the skits, “El Cerrojazo ‘…
This case focuses on a boy who seeks a girl in rural Andalusia and wants to win her heart with gifts. She refuses and sets her terms, which is an antecedent to ‘Metoo’ and ‘no Is No’.
-And “Ugly and with grace” is a very good example of the age of Instagram.
It talks about the canons and meanings of beauty and how they must be discarded to make room for what unites us. The protagonist girl doesn’t believe her boyfriend loves her, despite her ugly appearance. This is because the sainete was written in 1905 and it has not been updated since then.
-So, about the monologue, “Alcoholic Philosophy”, what can you have to say?
It is the reflection of a tips man who has six children, owes rent, and is a tailor. He makes suits for gentlemen, and they don’t pay him. Because of alcohol’s reflections, he is funny and tough.
– The scenery is also quite special.
That’s the way it works. Open theater is a proposal for a new type of theatre. The dressing rooms are located on the stage and the public can see us do make-up and recompose sets. We get positive feedback from the public about this idea.
– What does Granada really mean to you and Alfonso Sanchez, your partner?
It is a beautiful city that we love and have been coming back to since our first collaboration. We also have great friends like the actor Pepe Cantero who was there in “For all Death”. We are also very happy that Granada was one of the first cities to be visited before we enter Madrid. We will arrive with fully charged batteries.