1936

Text: Albert Boronat, Juan Cavestany, Andrés Lima and Juan Mayorga Dramaturg Albert Boronat and Andrés Lima Director: Andrés Lima

AGOTADAS

12 SEP – 12 OCT 2025 From Tuesday to Sunday at 7.00 pm | Duration approx. 4 hours 15 minutes with two intermissions Matinée: Tuesday 7 OCT at 10.30 am Accessible performances: 9 and 10 OCT SUB+AD+AA Use of strobe lighting

Valle-Inclán Theatre | Sala Grande

Please arrive well in advance as the auditorium will be closed once the performance has begun.
To collect tickets, our box offices will be open from Monday to Sunday from 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

TEAM

Writer

Albert Boronat, Juan Cavestany, Andrés Lima and Juan Mayorga

Playwriting

Albert Boronat and Andrés Lima

Director

Andrés Lima

Cast (playing these and other characters)

Cristina Arias (José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Von Richthofen, Rosario La Dinamitera), Mamen Camacho (La Pasionaria, General Rojo, Mika Etchebéhère), Antonio Durán “Morris” (Queipo de Llano, Obispo Antonio Montero, Nicolás Franco), Natalia Hernández (Yangüas Messía, Cardenal Gomá, Señora Guerra), María Morales (Manuel Azaña, Largo Caballero, Clara Campoamor), Paco Ochoa (Pau Casals, George Orwell, General Mola), Guillermo Toledo (General Yagüe, Alfonso XIII, General Miaja), Juan Vinuesa (Francisco Franco, Norman Bethune, Ramiro de Maeztu) and Coro Madrid

Set and costume design

Beatriz San Juan

Lighting

Pedro Yagüe

Video creation

Miquel Àngel Raió

Musical composition

Jaume Manresa

Sound designer

Kike Mingo

Characterisation

Cécile Kretschmar

Documentalist

Llorenç Ramis Garcia

Map of Bombed Madrid

Luis de Sobrón and Enrique Bordes

Assistant director

Laura Ortega

Assistant stage designer

Arantxa Melero

Wardrobe assistant

Berta Navas

Lighting assistant

Marina Palazuelos

Video creation assistant

Gonzalo Bernal

Communication Check In Producciones

Pepe Iglesias

Production assistant Check In Producciones

Mayte Barrera

Poster design

Emilio Lorente

Trailer and photography

Bárbara Sánchez Palomero

Producer Check In Producciones

Joseba Gil

Producer

Centro Dramático Nacional, Check in Producciones and El Terrat

Collaboration

Cultural Affairs, Teatre L'Artesà and Teatro de La Abadía

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dramaturgical contributions from: Verónica Serrada, Francisco Espinosa, Paul Preston and the diaries of Pilar Duaygües.

With thanks to Marcos Morau for his collaboration in the movement of the choir.

We would also like to thank Ángel Viñas, Tania Balló, Julián Casanova, Juan Pablo de Juan, Nick Powell, Miguel Hernández, George Orwell, Chaves Nogales, Nicolás Sánchez-Albornoz, Emilio Silva, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Mario Gas, Ramón Barea, Juan Codina, Eduard Fernández, Alberto San Juan, Alex Lee, José Andrés Rojo, Miguel Garau, Mirta Núñez, Ángela Bravo, Alfonso Domingo, Diana Fernández Irusta, Antoine Giménez, Carmen Conde and Concha Méndez for the inspiration they provided during the workshops and the creative process.

Choir Inés Alonso, Carolina Álvarez, Julia Avisbal, David Blanco, Marcos Carvajal, Antonio Carlos Civantos, Agata Czaplicka, Marina Díaz, Eva Fernández, Sandra Fernández, Madeleine Fleming, Raquel Gamella, Elena Gaubeka, Clara González, Luar Lijó, Eugenia Martínez, Lucía Muñoz, Pablo Pérez, Clara Pinos, Javier Pla, Lucía De Prado, Carla Tejedor, Sebastián Velayos and Carmen Villa.

PROGRAMME

About the show

Following Shock 1 (El Cóndor y el Puma) and Shock 2 (La Tormenta y la Guerra), which explored the advance of disaster capitalism through coups and wars, this piece arises from the need to understand our contemporary history, shaped by the first major shock of the 20th century after the First World War: the military coup of 18 July that led to a civil war lasting three long years.

Writer and director’s note

1936 The military coup of 18 July 1936 in Spain led to a civil war that lasted three long years. If we define “shock” as a violent blow to a society that results in the implementation of an economic, political and social regime, Spain in ’36 is the beginning of a major shock that will last 40 years and that still has a decisive influence on all classes and levels of Spanish society.

For many years, the official history in this country has been told from the perspective of the victors (sad word), of the rebels. And this lack of historical education persists to this day. But the theatrical look of this staging is not based on the dichotomy of the winners and the vanquished, of friends and enemies. Our gaze will be analytical, critical and documentary. Our responsibility is to relive a war. And a war is not just a failure as a society, but a huge emotional gash. A civil war, among brothers, is possibly the worst of wars. Theatre can reflect that emotion. I want the viewer to reflect, for our teens and young people to understand, and for us all to be in the other’s shoes. How does it feel to be bombed, to shelter in a metro station, alongside your neighbours, who may report you for your ideas? How does it feel to escape on a road in Málaga while the German navy and Italian planes wipe out the disabled, elderly and children? What does it feel like to decide to level Guernica? How do you live in a trench while waiting for death? What is a “walk”? What is terror?

The conflict, its ramifications, causes and consequences are too great. But we’re going to give it a try through theatre. We’re going to try to paint a picture that is sufficiently eloquent to remind and imagine, to ask us questions that help us to understand better, to try to find out where the wounds are.

Because there was blood, a lot. The war led to a Francoist regime that was backed by the church, the army, the aristocracy and much of society. It is the people who make me wonder the most. How and why is a regime that relies on repression supported? How can a human not be a humanist? And today? It used to be that the far-right took over by force; now, it is voted into power at the ballot box. Why?

Andrés Lima

TEAM

Writer

Albert Boronat, Juan Cavestany, Andrés Lima and Juan Mayorga

Playwriting

Albert Boronat and Andrés Lima

Director

Andrés Lima

Cast (playing these and other characters)

Set and costume design

Beatriz San Juan

Lighting

Pedro Yagüe

Video creation

Miquel Àngel Raió

Musical composition

Jaume Manresa

Sound designer

Kike Mingo

Characterisation

Cécile Kretschmar

Documentalist

Llorenç Ramis Garcia

Map of Bombed Madrid

Luis de Sobrón and Enrique Bordes

Assistant director

Laura Ortega

Assistant stage designer

Arantxa Melero

Wardrobe assistant

Berta Navas

Lighting assistant

Marina Palazuelos

Video creation assistant

Gonzalo Bernal

Communication Check In Producciones

Pepe Iglesias

Production assistant Check In Producciones

Mayte Barrera

Poster design

Emilio Lorente

Trailer and photography

Bárbara Sánchez Palomero

Producer Check In Producciones

Joseba Gil

Producer

Centro Dramático Nacional, Check in Producciones and El Terrat

Collaboration

Cultural Affairs, Teatre L'Artesà and Teatro de La Abadía

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dramaturgical contributions from: Verónica Serrada, Francisco Espinosa, Paul Preston and the diaries of Pilar Duaygües.

With thanks to Marcos Morau for his collaboration in the movement of the choir.

Biography

Andrés Lima

(Madrid, 1961) is a Spanish actor and theatre director closely associated with the theatre company Animalario.

On 30 September 2019, he was awarded the National Theatre Prize.

He began his career as an actor and director from a very early age. His first encounter with theatre took place at Yale School, where he was introduced to street theatre and discovered the work of Antonin Artaud (who gave him the theatre bug). He was involved in various groups and companies. Italy would prove to be a turning point in his theatrical life, as it was there that he discovered the Piccolo Teatro through a production by Giorgio Strehler. In the 1980s, during Spain’s political transition and the rise of independent theatre—an important period for Spanish performing arts—he began working professionally in theatre.

In the 1980s, Spain experienced a powerful theatrical resurgence, with companies arriving from all over the world. Andrés Lima was involved with the Animalario theatre company practically from its inception, collaborating closely with Alberto San Juan—a partnership that garnered numerous awards. As a director and playwright, Lima has played a key role in revitalising Spanish theatre direction. He has staged numerous productions for the Centro Dramático Nacional (CDN), Teatro de la Abadía and the Teatro de la Zarzuela, among others.

For Lima, representing our history is a fundamental act of self-knowledge: “The society we live in today is the result of what we built or destroyed yesterday“.

Albert Boronat

Playwright, theatre-maker and performing arts educator, he was born in Coma-ruga (Tarragona). He holds a Degree in Philosophy from the University of Barcelona and a Degree in Stage Direction and Dramaturgy from the Theatre Institute of Barcelona, where he currently teaches.

He is the author of numerous plays and productions, including Una casa en la montaña; Snorkel; Bardammour o morir sonriendo a la luna; Este no es un lugar adecuado para morir; Shell; Waits F. M.; Bostezo 2.0 and Vamos a por Guti, among others.

He frequently collaborates as a dramaturg and director with other artists, such as Carme Portaceli (TV & Miseria de la II Transición; No passa cada día que algú ens necessiti), La Moukhles i Sentís (Nody. De gossos i malditos), Obskené (Trossos),Pep Pla (Zero) and Judith Pujol (De carenes al cel; Vent de Garbí i una mica de por). Particularly notable is his ongoing dramaturgical work with Andrés Lima on productions such as Shock. El Cóndor y el puma; Prostitución; Shock. La tormenta y la guerra; La comedia de los errores and 1936.

He combines his creative and teaching work with dramaturgical advising for the theatre L’Artesà in El Prat de Llobregat, and provides pedagogical consultancy for various theatrical institutions.

Juan Cavestany

Juan Cavestany (Madrid, 1967) is a screenwriter, director and playwright. He is the co-creator of the television series Vergüenza and Sentimos las molestias for Movistar. In theatre, he has written and directed El traje (2013, revived in 2023), won the Max Award for Urtain in 2008, and has frequently collaborated with Andrés Lima on previous Shock productions and adaptations such as Moby Dick and Principiantes.

In 2013, he was awarded the Sant Jordi Prize for Gente en sitios, a self-produced film, as were Dispongo de barcos, El señor, Esa sensación and Un efecto óptico. He is currently completing Madrid, EXT., a symphonic documentary-film about a city.