Los fugaces

A work of contemporary creation written and directed by Denise Despeyroux, combining theatre and music to explore identity, language and the voice. It is staged at the Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid.

Los fugaces is a show written and directed by Denise Despeyroux, author of La Realidad, Carne viva, Un tercer lugar and Misericordia. The piece blends theatre, music, neurology and philosophy. At its heart is Dunia, who wakes from a coma and finds that speaking no longer comes easily to her: words come out in unpredictable ways. Only when she sings is she able to say clearly what she feels.

In parallel, Dante, a playwright with a critical eye on the theatre world, receives a commission from a producer for a project on Russian cosmism, an early twentieth-century philosophical movement that defended immortality and the resurrection of the dead as a form of justice. As that play is costly to finance, both must first accept a musical for an Argentine businessman who aspires to sing.

The two stories end up crossing over in a plot involving eccentric doctors, producers, songs and characters determined to achieve the impossible. The show raises questions about identity and the way we perceive the world, while playing with the limits of the musical genre. The piece grows out of a personal experience: Denise Despeyroux suffered a stroke while finishing Misericordia, and that episode reinforced her interest in the brain, language and identity.