Classical Theater in a Spanish Pueblecito

Amongst Spain's big cities, lie a ton of small "pueblos" which resemble villages. Almost everyone in Spain has a pueblo, a place that either they are from or their family is from. The pueblos are quite small ranging from 600 to 30,000 people. People often go to their pueblos for the holidays or to spend some part of the summer, where they see family and old friends, go out to bars, to the pool, and just hang out living the simple life.

During the weekend of July 10th, I went to a tiny pueblo called Almagro which is in the region of Ciudad Real. The pictures below give an idea of what pueblos generally look like. They are comprised of older buildings with lots of places for eating, drinking, and just hanging out.

This past weekend we went to Almagro for a very exciting reason. Each year there is a very prestigious festival called Almagro Festival de Teatro Clasical. For several weeks, there are endless classical theatre plays which mainly represent la Edad de Oro of Spain, or the Golden Age, when playrights like Lope de Vega and Tirso de Molina were at their maximum. The festival in Almagro also sprinkles in other types of classical theatre. In fact Tim Robbins himself came to direct "El Sueno de un noche del verano," or better known as "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

On the first night of the festival, we saw what turned out to be one of my favorite plays I have ever seen, called "La Carcel," or "The Jail." 

Inside the open-air theater, "Corral de Comedias"

The actors of "La Carcel" during the curtain call.

The play was conducted in Old Castellano, which would be like our version of Shakespeare's English, so naturally a lot of the dialogue went over my head, but the body movements, the facial gestures, and the actor's incredible physical timing led me to absolutely love the production. Taking place hundreds of years ago in a jail, the men within the jail are beside themselves over one man's condemnation to death row. In the end, he makes it. through an incredible series of comedy along the way. The second evening we saw a Zarzuela show, which is a unique style of opera-musical.

In the audience waiting for the Zarzuela show to begin

When we weren't in the theaters, we were relaxing at the community pool and eating and drinking in the central Plaza Mayor. I was in the company of a great group of Spanish friends who are all slightly older than me, in their 40's and 50's. In Spain, 40's and 50s is like 20s in United States. They are intensely alive, they are constantly out and about meeting with friends, and they enjoy socializing until all hours of the evening. With them, I always eat and drink very well as they know the best wines and typical plates of every restaurant. We drank bottles of red wine and ate plates of the typcial cheese from that pueblo.

Copas in the Plaza Mayor after an evening of theatre

An intense feeling of sadness and regret overcame me this weekend, despite the great time. I realized that perhaps I made a mistake in deciding to go back to USA this year. A major part of my decision was that 30 is considered to be quite old in USA and I was feeling pressure to come back and begin a very serious, rigid life. This weekend in Almagro reminded of how young I am and how many more years I have to enjoy, and somehow that in Spain, we can remain much younger much longer. My friends noticed how well Spain suits me and how happy I am here. Perhaps I shouldn't have decided to leave so soon....