The stage production of "Obabakoak" opens this week
2017-10-16 ¦ Theater
A loose adaptation of Atxaga's well-known novel Obabakoak will take the stage for the first time on Wednesday October 18th. The play, which is being produced by the Arriaga Theater, was announced last week at a press conference.
Obabakoak (1988) is one of the best-known works by Bernardo Atxaga. Since its publication, it has been translated into about 30 languages and has received countless awards. Prior to the upcoming stage adaptation, the novel had been adapted for film in 2005 by Basque filmmaker Montxo Armendariz.
The play will be produced by the Arriaga Theater and under the artistic direction of Calixto Bieito. Many well-known actors have been cast, including Joseba Apaolaza, Ylenia Baglietto, Gurutze Beitia, Ainhoa Etxebarria, Miren Gaztaņaga, Iņake Irastorza, Karmele Larrinaga, Itziar Lazkano, Koldo Olabarri, Lander Otaola and Eneko Sagardoy.
The opening performance will take place on October 18th. The Basque language performances run from October 18-21 and the performances in Spanish run from November 23-26.
In Bieito's adaptation, the characters appear as human landscapes, full of love, desire, memories, fears and uncertainties. Stories take place in that far away and primitive world of childhood, where the name Freud was not part of our vocabulary. It is a universe of fantasies, of visions, and of images in the nighttime of our memory, hidden away in the most remote corners of our being.