Idiota

“After setting up Sótano, by Benet i Jornet, my first experience as a director, I began to look for texts to direct again. The search process is one of the key moments of creation for me. As an actor, I have always tried, as far as possible, to do what I have believed in, texts that provoke me, which question and pose a challenge. Theatre is a way of earning my living, of course, but above all, it is a way of seeing life. If, as an actor, that identification is a fundamental cornerstone, as a director it is the absolute backbone. I would not be able to direct anything which didn’t provoke a feeling of challenge.”

That’s how Israel Elejalde discovered Idiota, the libretto with which he addresses his second staging as a director. Signed by Jordi Casanovas, one of the most interesting voices of contemporary Spanish stage, Idiota proposes a perverse game that can move the audience from comedy to the most disturbing psychological thriller at the blink of an eye.

A man turns up for some paid psychological tests. What appears to be a simple way of getting the money he needs to solve his economic problems, will become a real nightmare in the hands of an attractive psychologist who, through questions and enigmas, will force him to give the best of himself if he wants to avoid a fatal ending.

In Israel’s opinion, the protagonist of such a cruel experiment could not be any other than Gonzalo de Castro. “I needed a very good actor who had the ductility to be able to move from comedy to extreme danger. And that was Gonzalo.” Meanwhile, Elisabet Gelabert, a regular actress for the Kamikaze family, will be responsible for providing credibility and solidity to the ruthless German psychologist who checkmates the idiot protagonist.”

Film aesthetics which are very close to the graphic novel, will serve to set up this unique stage proposal, as hilarious as it is disturbing, and full of intrigue. A stage production on the capacity of human suffering, which the director himself introduces as: “two actors, one text. The light comes on. Life flows. Let’s laugh out loud, be surprised, become distressed, give it thought together. That’s Idiota”.