Throughout March, the Cervantes Theatre, London’s home of Spanish drama, is celebrating Madrid with Madrid is a Female Name, its mini-season of monologues imported from the Spanish capital. The programme continues this Saturday 9 March 2019 with Descarriadas.
Written by Laila Ripoli and directed by Paloma Rodera, Descarriadas is performed (in Spanish) by Luna Paredes for one night only this Saturday at 7.3opm at the Cervantes Theatre, continuing the season, sponsored by Madrid Destino. The performance is followed by Q&A with the artists.
A rock concert, a woman and her memories. Memories of a time, not too long ago, where this woman was driven to cloak herself in guilt. She was stigmatised by the rest, punished by the morality of the time, robbed by her own carers and subjected to silence. A silence that now becomes a scream.
“Perhaps the most important thing in the work is that it reminds us that Spain has a past, but no memory” – La Marea
This show is born from that need to talk about a part of recent history that has been silenced in Spain: the abuses by the Patronato de Protección a la Mujer. “Talking about these women is necessary to understand what we are, to avoid what we do not want to be. And once you know what has happened, that you can uncover the box of that memory that has been kept hidden for too long, it is impossible not to want to tell the story.”
Trailer
Bios
Laila Ripoll (writer) graduated in Theatre Pedagogy at RESAD. She is the co-founder of the Theatre Company Micomicón. She has written, directed and adapted plays like Donde el bosque se espesa together, La judía de Toledo, Cáscaras vacías, El triángulo azul, Los niños perdidos, Atra Bilis, Santa Perpetua and Unos cuantos piquetitos. Her plays have been translated into Arabic, Basque, Galician, Italian, Japanese and other languages. She has been awarded many prizes including National Prize in Dramatic Literature in 2015, MAX Prize to the Best Playwright in 2015, City of Palencia Prize to the Best Stage Direction in 2013, ARTEMAD Prize in 2007 and First Price in the Stage Directors Certamen in Torrejón de Ardoz in 2002. She teaches acting classes and dramaturgy in Performing Arts Schools and institutions like AISGE, Estudio Juan Codina, Universidad Complutense in Madrid and in the Centro Dramático Nacional.
Luna Paredes (actor) studied acting in Escuela de Teatro La Lavandería, with Laila Ripoll and Mariano Llorente. She constantly updates her theatre training with teachers like Juan Pastor, Vicente Fuentes, Lidia Otón, Greg Hicks, Roberto Cerdà, Claudio Tolcachir and Mar Navarro. She works as an actress for el Teatro de La Abadía, La Espera Producciones, Cuartoymitad Teatro, Dramákina, Benamate and others. She has taken part in poetry readings such as the cycle of Poesía en el Corral.
Paloma Rodera (director) has a PhD in Theatre Microsociology from Universidad Complutense (Spain), she has completed a Master’s degree in Theatre and Performing Arts from the Madrid Theatre Institute and she possesses a degree in Fine Arts. She was the founder and worked as the director of the theatre company, Teatro al Punto Producciones and the Vice President of Venezia Teatro, a company dedicated to the reinterpretation of classical texts. She has collaborated with other companies who work in unconventional spaces. She belongs to the network of the Spanish National Drama Centre, La Vía del Actor.
How well do you know Madrid?
Madrid is a Female Name is sponsored by Madrid Destino. How well do you know this beautiful European destination? 
Madrid is the capital of Spain and the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, with a population of 3.2 million.
The cultural, as well as the political and economic, centre of the country, its many landmarks and top tourist attractions include the Royal Palace, the Prado and Reina Sofia Museums, the National Library, Buen Retiro Park, the Cibeles Palace and Fountain, the Sun Gate and the El Rastro street market. For more information on the city, visit Madrid Destino.
