El caballero de Olmedo

Adaptation and direction by Laila Ripoll of El caballero de Olmedo, one of the most poetic texts of the Siglo de Oro, staged at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid by the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico.

Lope de Vega's play, premiered in 1620, begins as a love story that seems to be a pleasant tale, with daring exploits, a comic servant, deceptions and disguises. Little by little the story darkens until it becomes a tale of terror, with an inexorable fate that the audience knows from the outset, more than the characters themselves.

The production, with adaptation and direction by the playwright Laila Ripoll, maintains that tension between comedy and fatality. The artistic team includes Arturo Martín Burgos on set design, Luis Perdiguero on lighting, Almudena R. Huertas on costumes, Álvaro Luna on video design, Mariano Marín on original music and sound space, Eva Rufo as verse coach, David Roldán on sound, Moisés Echevarría on make-up and characterisation, Raquel Molano on the songs and Kike Inchausti on stage combat.

In this staging, today's audience approaches the story with the perspective of more than four centuries, knowing what awaits the protagonists. The Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid hosts the show, produced by the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico.