The play "Obabakoak" is still on the move (Barcelona, Bilbao and San Sebastián)

It’s been 3 weeks since the play "Obabakoak" opened at Bilbao’s Arriaga theater. The loose adaptation of Bernardo Atxaga’s celebrated novel Obabakoak (1988) is helmed by the Arriaga’s artistic director, Calixto Bieito.

After making its debut in Bilbao, the play traveled to Barcelona’s Teatre Lliure, where it was warmly received. Here is an excerpt from the newspaper El Periódico.

"Great creators are always expected to take the greatest risks. It is not a question of discovering Calixto Bieito but rather of applauding his decision to tackle a novel as venerated and emblematic as Obabakoak (...) The stage interpretation draws on the spirit of the novel, which recreates a magical world located in an imaginary Basque setting that has been compared to García Márquez’s Macondo. (...) Risk, visual poetry, atmosphere and respect for Atxaga’s text are evoked in this sweeping production that is neither traditional nor naturalistic, (...) and it leaves you with the undeniable sensation that you are witnessing a major work. (...) Bieito brings out the best of each of the 11 actors, including breathtaking performances by Joseba Apaolaza, Ylenia Baglietto and Miren Gaztañaga."

With the Barcelona run finished, the play returns to the Basque Country, first to Bilbao, with a performance in Basque on November 28 and performances in Spanish on November 23-26 and December 2, and then to the Victoria Eugenia Theater in San Sebastián on December 20 (in Spanish) and 21 (in Basque).

Time Out magazine published an extended interview with the two creators, Bernardo Atxaga and Calixto Bieito. “Being able to touch my characters was such a moving experience. It is a miracle; suddenly, what was ethereal is right before you. It becomes solid and has a voice.”

Photograph: El Periódico.