“The thrill that the novel caused us was such that we saw possibilities to put it on stage, although we knew it was a risk.” This is how Severiano García, director of the Tenerife company Delirium Teatro, explained the origin of what is undoubtedly the great cultural news of this end of 2023: the stage adaptation of the novel Panza de burro, by the writer Andrea Abreu (Tenerifenineteen ninety five).
Since the intention to bring to the stage what is undoubtedly the biggest Canarian publishing phenomenon of recent times was announced, Delirium has not stopped receiving calls interested in the idea. The premiere dates have already been set. It will be on December 1 and 2 at the Capitol Theater, in the municipality of Tacoronte, in Tenerife. Tickets are not available for now.
The origin of the proposal that has caused so much furor among culture lovers is the good relationship that the young Tenerife author has maintained for some time with the company based in the municipality in the north of the Island. «There is a coincidence that a great friend of Andrea is the costume designer, Héctor León,” they indicated.
«Sometime when Andrea passed by here we talked about the possibility of taking this project forward. Knowing that there were possibilities of having direct contact with the author or with her collaborators or friends seemed interesting to us. Furthermore, we are from the same environment, from the north of Tenerife,” García explained.
Before diving headlong into making the adaptation, which García and Soraya González, producer and actress, have created together, they wanted to make a preliminary approach to the text. «We started the work of adaptation and saw that yes, it could be. From there all the pre-production work began, which has been going on for a year now,” she recalled.
González, for his part, spoke about the reasons why the novel caught his attention so much. «It seemed to me that he was talking about my own childhood. When we read the book I saw that there was a direct connection and I thought I would love to see it on stage. It was a bit dizzying but we locked ourselves in for three days, we did a reading and Seve – who is the one who normally has the vision of the montage – saw an option for a beginning and an end. “We told ourselves that it was feasible to take a risk.”he recalled.
Some of the details of what this long-awaited play will be like have already emerged, but those responsible for Delirium prefer to keep some surprises. An example is how they will plan the stage space and the decoration. What they have announced is the cast. Delia Santana and Silvia Criado will be the two protagonist girls of the novel. “Delia Santana is Isora and Silvia Criado is Shit, her friend, who has no name in the novel but Isora calls her that and that is what we are going to call her.” The rest of the actors, Delia Hernández, Javier Socorro and Soraya González herself, will share the countless characters that swarm around the girls, including the grandmother and the dogs.
To carry out this company they have had something essential: the full trust of Andrea Abreu. The writer has placed the responsibility of the adaptation on them. «She is excited about the idea of a theater adaptation and gave us complete freedom. She is very busy and we communicate just enough. We don’t need more and up to this point there is total confidence,” García celebrated. They obviously have the advantage that Abreu knows the way of working and the seal of Delirium, which has 38 years of experience and more than 27 shows behind it.
Aware of the responsibility they have assumed, as the trials progress they are increasingly convinced that they have chosen well. «The usual thing is that we put on plays whose purpose is the scene. Not in this case, this is an intimate and very reflective novel. Transferring that world to the stage and converting that into dialogues has its intricacies and that was the fear,” García explained. Those fears, he continued, have dissipated. «Today, when we have been rehearsing for about a month, I can tell you that I am no longer afraid. One walks by intuition and experience, although fear and vertigo always exist and will always remain.
González, for his part, highlighted the good reception that the idea has had and announced that, beyond the dates announced in Tacoronte, there will be more opportunities to enjoy Panza de burro in the theater starting in 2024, in principle, in theaters Tenerife like the Guimerá Theater or La Granja.
«When there are such good feelings you realize the dimension of the author and the novel. We have received many more stimuli than normal, people are crazy about the idea of taking it to the theater. There are people who are big fans of Panza de burro and that phenomenon is going to be good, it is very interesting and we are going to take advantage of it. Welcome to the theater, it seems that it is a bit difficult for people to come,” she concluded.
