Content warning: This story contains mentions of sexual assault — and I find the struggle of the cast’s preparation to be significant to the show The thought of playing an immoral character such as the Commander caused hesitancy among some theatre students especially because of the character’s grotesque misogyny and instances of sexual assault While students are well aware of the separation that exists between themselves and their roles the reality is that they are still learning how to be actors “I did have concerns about if I was cast as the Commander or one of the other militaristic roles … I've had a really challenging summer with medical issues and mental health issues you have to go to a really dark place,” said Tomas Garcia “I didn't know if I was capable of that for my own mental sake for the sake of the production and the quality of my performance that I could give.”  Lashua uses a bigger-picture mentality when considering the responsibility of such a role “There’s a lot of worry that goes into [the role] but [that’s] something I knew going into it,” said Lashua [and] it has to be played well … to make the show worth watching,” said Lashua Despite the wariness to play the Commander — and the strain of playing his victims — a show like this is beneficial for the actors as it equips theatre students with an improved contemporary acting methodology Melanie Queponds director of “Fuente Ovejuna,” initially approached the play with similar caution as Garcia “I was concerned coming in [because] these are young actors who are just learning how to have their own acting process and how to keep themselves safe,” said Queponds the willingness and ambition of the students dissipated any lingering concern and the cast and their director got right into creating a safe environment within the show Queponds implemented a ritual to mentally check students in and out of scenes “There’s this idea of tapping in or tapping out … [the actors] say we’re going to high five [or] fist bump,’ something that physically tells [them] we are now in the scene of these characters,” said Queponds Students also get the opportunity to take on heavy material with fight director, Jo Ann Mendelson, and intimacy director, Meagan Prahl who implement safe practices for the actors “They have been integral [in creating] good practices,” said Queponds “I think acting really nowadays is getting smarter and smarter,” said DeBoer while also understanding [that] if I go too far it's not healthy … I think that's where the acting industry is now going … into the idea [that] you can't fully submerge yourself into some of these very Tapping in and out, intimacy coordination and concepts such as “derolling” — where an actor practices shedding the character once they shed their costume — are all working against traditional but harmful acting methods still very present in modern media Even focusing on small comedic elements of the show functions as a positive combatant for a potentially draining experience “We had a really good conversation [on Sunday with] the whole ensemble that it really [started] hitting them after our first dress run — the gravity of these situations,” said Queponds “There’s also funny moments … we need the light to balance the dark.” By presenting young actors with difficult performances like “Fuente Ovejuna” and teaching them to approach it with a thoughtful and safe mentality students can take on hard-hitting roles earlier in their education and continue doing so as they progress in their acting careers As someone who is passionate about directing I am thrilled to see actors take agency of their process and be willing to depict uncomfortable situations for the sake of impacting the audience I was surprised to find that they all brought up similar philosophies about the show — a testament to the culture they and the rest of those involved in “Fuente Ovejuna” cultivated and a promising look into the future of acting at LMU Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Los Angeles Loyolan (@laloyolan) Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription The cast of “Fuenteovejuna: East End” at Guild Hall The cast of “Fuenteovejuna: East End.” COURTESY OLA OLA of Eastern Long Island (Organización Latino Americana) and Guild Hall in East Hampton are teaming up to launch a historic Spanish-language collaboration bringing a contemporary community-generated version of “Fuenteovejuna,” a 17th-century play by Spain’s celebrated playwright Félix Lope de Vega reimagined as “Fuenteovejuna: East End,” is the brainchild of co-directors Margarita Espada who are Guild Hall’s 2025 Community Artists-in-Residence (CAiR) The play will be performed in Spanish at Guild Hall on May 16 and 17 “Fuenteovejuna,” an essential work of the Spanish literary canon is based on a dramatic historical event that took place in 1476 in a Spanish village It tells the story of the villagers’ revolt against the tyrannical and violent rule of their local commander who is not only cruel and abusive but a rapist the dangers of unchecked authority and power dynamics in relation to social class and gender community solidarity and the power of collective action “Fuenteovejuna: East End” updates Lope de Vega’s language to be more accessible to a contemporary audience Auditions for the play took place in Hampton Bays and East Hampton in October and November 2024 and drew Latino community members from all over Long Island ranging from those with no formal acting experience or training to others who have acted professionally Rehearsals have begun and will continue until the May performances “This is a dream come true for me,” said Perez who holds a degree in Theater Arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and ran her own theater company in New York City for eight years “I’m thrilled to stage this play at Guild Hall as it will mark the first-ever Spanish-language theater production on the East End “Given the rise of authoritarian regimes around the world and in our own country now is the perfect time to rely on the arts to build community and to convey the importance of mutual respect and individual dignity,” she continued “The demonstration of bravery and strength of women in this 17th-century play is another reason this work resonates so profoundly ‘Fuenteovejuna’ is ultimately about solidarity and unity — and about how a community has the power to hold political leaders accountable.” Perez has directed and produced independent films and local theater productions including the only Spanish-language version of “The Vagina Monologues” performed on the East End as well as the English version featuring cast members Brooke Shields OLA also has a history of collaboration with Espada of Teatro Yerbabruja an organization focused on using the arts as a tool for social change who holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Stony Brook University and is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Women’s has led OLA community theater workshops for teens and adults on the East End most recently in Greenport in collaboration with the Center for Advocacy who hails from Puerto Rico and is based on Long Island researcher and activist in the fields of physical theater Guild Hall’s CAiR program supports the creative economy imagination and civic life on the East End by commissioning regionally based artists to develop socially engaged or participatory work It provides artists with creative mentorships and a shared studio/workspace on the Guild Hall campus the East End’s foremost Latino immigrant advocacy organization includes an arts focus as part of its mission in order to celebrate Latino Latin American and Spanish-language arts and culture as well as to build bridges among different sectors of the community Guild Hall and OLA have a history of collaboration that includes Guild Hall hosting film screenings during OLA’s annual Latino Film Festival of the Hamptons immigration-focused panel discussions and more “We are incredibly excited to welcome Minerva Perez and Margarita Espada as 2025 Guild Hall Community Artists-in-Residence,” said Anthony Madonna Guild Hall’s theater director and curator of performing arts “Through both their creative and community work comradery and change within and for their communities we have seen their work in action here at Guild Hall as they’ve welcomed people of all ages for auditions and rehearsals We are thankful to be part of their process and ready to support them as they bring to life ‘Fuenteovejuna: East End.’” Tickets to “Fuenteovejuna: East End” at Guild Hall will go on sale March 1 Visit guildhall.org/fuenteovejuna for details Guild Hall is at 158 Main Street in East Hampton You've read 4 of your 7 free articles this month Please log in or create an account to continue reading The great Spanish Golden Age author Lope de Vega wrote Fuente Ovejuna in 1612 after he was inspired by a historical incident: farmers and peasants of the village of Fuente Ovejuna rose up against a military commander and his soldiers who routinely brutalized and oppressed them Lope de Vega’s words have rung out for centuries His genius was to create a powerful mix of music Directed by Flordelino LagundinoScenic Design by Afsoon PajoufarCostume Design by Linda ChoLighting Design by Jiyoun Chang www.tfana.org Thank You!You have now been added to the list Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors Please consider supporting us bywhitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.Thank you - A military commander ruthlessly exploits a rural community until the townspeople rise up against him in Lope de Vega’s nonstop historical drama “Fuente Ovejuna.” The 17th century Spanish text is getting a fresh adaptation by Northwestern University School of Communication students Kori Alston ’18 and Susan E Northwestern’s Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts presents “Fuente Ovejuna” April 21 to 30 in the Ethel M Lope de Vega’s historical plays drew on popular legend and explored aspects of Spain’s national character and social solidarity on which the country’s greatness rested said she was attracted to the play’s fast-moving pace and moral complexity of its story “Love is what moves the community to stand together and defend the values it considers most sacred but its response to an ongoing abuse of power culminates in violence “At a time when citizens on both the right and the left are questioning the systems of power at work in our own democracy the questions the characters in “Fuente Ovejuna” are forced to confront have never felt more timely: ‘Am I going to step out of line and speak up or am I going to be complicit in the status quo?’" In the midst of a dynastic power struggle for the crown of Castile military commander Fernán Gómez returns victorious from battle to the small rural town of Fuente Ovejuna where his acts of violence soon extend beyond the battlefield The villagers repeatedly endure the commander’s violation of their honor until one day he goes too far – kidnapping the mayor’s daughter Laurencia galvanizes the town to extract their revenge but authorities are swiftly sent in to punish the offenders serving as a rallying cry for communal courage today Lope de Vega is believed to have written as many as 1,800 plays; the texts of 426 survive today The Golden Age playwright had a tumultuous personal life with which to feed his drama He was married several times and took several mistresses was imprisoned for slander and fought with the Spanish Armada against England Please be advised this production contains strong language and mature content A post-show conversation will follow the performance scheduled for Thursday Tickets are $20 - $25 for the general public and $6 - $10 for students with valid I.D.  For more information about the production or to order tickets, call 847-491-7282, visit the Wirtz Center website or email wirtz@northwestern.edu The Wirtz Center is a member of the Northwestern Arts Circle news@northwestern.edu Get the latest news delivered to your inbox Lope de Vega’s classic story of how the powerless stood up to authority — and won –deserves better treatment than clumsy caricature Like Sheep to Water, or Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega Staged by Trinity Repertory Company at The Chace Theater Daniel Duque-Estrada stars as King Ferdinand of Aragon and Rachael Warren as Queen Isabella of Castile in the Trinity Repertory Company production of “Like Sheep to Water or Fuente Ovejuna.” Photo:Mark Turek for all of their bravado about taking a stand Didn’t I just see that on TV last night such as staging a seventeenth-century script about oppressed people than a passionate retread of yesterday’s news Fuente Ovejuna has all the earmarks of a classic that carries a contemporary punch the Trinity Repertory Company production drags mainly because of an overripe production that undercuts the enduring power of this warning about the destructive power of autocracy Spanish playwright Lope De Vega penned a rather straight-forward story about a cruel Commander the power-obsessed regime of Ferdinand and Isabella and the effects of tyranny on a helpless small farming community in southern Spain At its heart is a story of love and the value of solidarity By focusing on the struggles of a community to persevere especially the beleaguered women at its center does not match the sure hand of the playwright Saddled with an awkward translation by Curt Columbus the actors struggle to master a stylistic mix of slang A small onstage band inserts generic drumming and guitar music at random points in a production already plagued by an irritating lack of specificity Group dance numbers feature stomping lines of mostly non dancers who look lost in under-choreographed sequences These stilted “power to the people” interludes look amateurish (the choreography is uncredited) and as if to make up for the thinness of the live music and dance taped music is brought in to pull up the slack More disconcerting is that there is more shouting than acting in this production of Fuente Ovejuna yells out his evil intentions with comic book bravura Sullivan’s cruelty comes off as cardboard sadism a let-down compounded by the fact that his most heinous acts take place off stage Sullivan is surrounded by other cartoon antics that undercut the central conflict the story of a young love ripped apart by the Commander and his stooges Their misogynistic dalliances predate the obscene gab of Donald Trump and Billy Bush but these screaming bullies lack the callous ease of professional louts unfeeling Isabella (Rachael Warren) is garish to the point that it draws attention away from the character’s role as the guardian of a repressive social order Lope de Vega’s classic story of how the powerless stood up to authority — and won –deserves better treatment than a clumsy caricature of oppression that features a parade of ill-mannered macho men sporting silly helmet and mustaches She’s the 2014 Pell Award Winner for service to the Arts in RI She is a choreographer and a writer who creates and performs her own text-based movement pieces Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" The Lady’s Dressing Room (1732) BY JONATHAN SWIFT Five hours (and who can do it less in?) By haughty Celia… but this Littlefield review has convinced me to make the purchase your comments reek of what is wrong in today's society and also if entitlement About Us Advertising/Underwriting Syndication Media Resources Editors and Contributors © 2025 The Arts Fuse. All Rights Reserved. Site by AuthorBytes Adrian Mitchell’s translation of the 17th-century Spanish play will have its off-Broadway debut at Theatre for a New Audience Hayley Levitt Theatre for a New Audience has announced casting for its English-language premiere production of Lope de Vega’s Fuente Ovejuna and playwright Adrian Mitchell and directed by Flordelino Lagundino Performances will run from April 29-May 28 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center with an official opening on May 9 The cast also includes Barzin Akhavan (Esteban) Stephen Berenson (Juan Rojo / First Alderman) Ben Chase (King Ferdinand of Aragon / Leonelo) Octavia Chavez-Richmond (Queen Isabella of Castile / Jacinta) José Espinosa (Grand Master Rodrigo Tellez Giron) Paco Lozano (Sergeant Ortuno / Don Manrique) “Fuente Ovejuna is a radical play inspired by a real event,” said TFANA Artistic Director Jeffrey Horowitz in a statement He was inspired by a historical 1476 incident: farmers and peasants of the Castilian village of Fuente Ovejuna rose up against a military commander and his soldiers garrisoned in the village who routinely brutalized and oppressed them…Fuente Ovejuna is about feminism but it was written long before the Declaration of Independence; French Revolution; the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote; and making its off-Broadway premiere with TFANA had its world premiere in 1989 at London’s National Theatre in a production directed by Declan Donellan The TFANA creative team includes scenic designer Afsoon Pajoufar composer/music director Paddy Cunneen (who will collaborate with the cast to create original music) choreographer/movement director Brian Brooks associate fight choreographer/intimacy director Dan O’Driscoll The musical opens at the Imperial Theatre on April 10 Get the best deals and latest updates on theater and shows by signing up for TheaterMania's newsletter today Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Latinos in the United States continue to drive the economy forward — as they’ve been doing since the 1500s The ASCENSO fellows went inside our local government to study issues confronting Ventura County Latinos Department of Education awarded California Lutheran University more than $3.6 million to continue and expand its TRIO Traditional Upward Bound services for high school students in Oxnard California Lutheran University will hold its 2022 Graduate and Professionals Commencement at 9 a.m California Lutheran University received its largest National Science Foundation grant to date — $307,486 for a biologist and her students to study sexual selection in tiny Brazilian squirrel monkeys Department of Education has awarded California Lutheran University a five-year $1.39 million grant to help lower the high school dropout rate in South Oxnard and increase the number of students who enter and graduate from college California Lutheran University will launch a Spanish media minor — the only one at a private college in Southern California — to help fill the need for bilingual journalists who understand Latino culture the head of inclusion and diversity for American Honda Motor Co. will be the inaugural vice president for talent culture and diversity for California Lutheran University As the result of a rare interdisciplinary collaboration between undergraduate and graduate programs California Lutheran University has become one of the first institutions in California where undergraduate students can begin earning their bilingual teaching authorization through coursework Nuestra Designación HSI Dream Plane Productions presents Fuente Ovejuna as a rewrite of one of the most well-known plays of Lope de Vega a central figure during Spain’s Golden Age of Literature whose work has held mass appeal ever since Based on a true story of a late 15th-century uprising in provincial Spain the villagers of Fuente Ovejuna struggle against the Commander (played by the ensemble) and their own relationship to law and order until his ultimate demise at their hands.  the play emphasises themes of collective action and community agency circling back again and again to gender and class struggle Perhaps a novelty to local audiences despite being performed across centuries Angus Evans‘ adaption for the 21st century favours modern liberties over traditional homages Housed in a tin shed actually shaking under a flight path Flight Path Theatre gives no clues to the high calibre creatives fronting the show Dressed in beige costumes that speak to no place or time the animated cast perform a dialogue-heavy script with fluid physicality Without overwhelming the stage or dominating each other bringing forth a familiarity both cosy yet surprising the building and breaking of humour to transition into heavy themes disjoins the play’s progression The Commander torments the villagers with force with some actors bringing a chilling layer to the character against the Commander’s menacing poetic the villagers’ playfulness feels like friction in anticipation of upcoming plot points.  Handling trauma is the trepidation of choosing a play that pivots through rape and torture clocking in at almost two and a half hours the rewrite could expand on its existing liberties by abandoning the hard-to-follow Royals and territorial battles side narrative Further subversions could sidestep the anxiety of failing to represent sensitive events and By the second act, Fuente Ovejuna! finds its feet Civil unrest and power imbalances build to a chaotic overflow rather than jolting between humour and trauma The darkness grows with emotive crescendos built by evolving light design (Jas Borsovszky) and an on-stage percussion (Liam Peat) and acoustic (Edward Hampton) duo The central cruelty of the Commander starts to compare with the subtle microaggressions amongst villagers audiences witness the women confront the men’s inaction realised in a powerful exchange between Laurencia (Lucinda Howes) and her father the town mayor Esteban (James Bean).  Despite these criticisms, Fuente Ovejuna! is a whip-smart – for better or worse jocular and busy – proclamation for standing together in solidarity against power As one villager declares when the community comes under pressure and website in this browser for the next time I comment LBV Magazine English Edition a significant event took place at the archaeological site of Mellaria where the latest discoveries from the excavations carried out between 2022 and 2024 were presented The excavations have been led by the University of Córdoba in collaboration with the Fuente Obejuna City Council revealing interesting findings that shed light on the rich history of this ancient Roman city and approximately 25 hectares have been surveyed using advanced geophysical methods led to the discovery of a monumental fountain that captured the attention of the archaeological community excavations focused on an area near the Cerro de Masatrigo with the goal of locating the “house of waters” an essential element in the urban cycle of Mellaria The investigations were successful in finding the castellum divisorium an ancient structure that was remodeled to house two water decantation basins and several additional fountains This building represented the endpoint of the aqueduct where water was made drinkable and distributed via lead pipes to public fountains These findings have allowed Mellaria to boast one of the most complete and documented water cycles in the province of Córdoba The water intake points have been precisely identified along with the route of the main channel and its branches and its distribution in the public fountains have been identified An inscription has even been found mentioning the municipal officer who financed this ingenious hydraulic system The 2024 campaign has focused on a building located at the eastern end of the city’s outskirts more than 700 meters from the previous finding and near the N-432 road Aerial and geophysical surveys have revealed approximately 1160 meters of the layout of the Via Corduba-Emerita a route that passed through Mellaria and connected Córdoba with Medellín This section of the road is flanked by funerary monuments following the norm in Roman cities where burials were usually carried out outside the city walls In the eastern necropolis sector of Mellaria a section of at least 450 meters of the road has been identified accompanied by monuments and buildings with different functions The excavation of almost half of this building concluded on July 31 and more campaigns are planned to fully recover the enclosure What makes this site particularly fascinating is its function as an honorary cenotaph dedicated to a famous figure who neither died nor was buried in the city The location of the aedicule has been discovered along with fragments of a “funerary” marble statue larger than life-size although no urns or chambers related to an in-situ burial have been found reclining structures of a total of four documented geophysically where banquets were held in honor of the illustrious figure These banquet areas featured water systems that emanated from the honoree’s position symbolizing the life and wealth provided to those who came to celebrate his memory shows a clear influence of classical Mediterranean funerary customs Rectangular benches have been documented on the facade arranged in pairs adjacent to the honorary monument a spacious garden housed pits with grave goods related to rites in honor of the deceased as well as some empty pits likely intended to hold vegetation Although the name of the honoree remains a mystery due to the lack of epigraphy this celebratory monument is exceptionally rare in Córdoba and uncommon in Hispania This type of monument is a remarkable testimony to Roman funerary practices which often included tributes to notable figures through imposing architectural structures The enigma of the identity of the figure honored in this cenotaph remains an open question for future archaeological investigations Upcoming campaigns could unravel more clues about this historical figure and his connection to Mellaria Universidad de Córdoba Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email Archaeologists from universities in the United States and Denmark found deep within the Actun Uayazba Kab cave in Belize two small stone tools dated between 250 and 900 AD that… men and women gathered to play a game called Cuju A team of researchers has succeeded in recreating for the first time in a laboratory experiment a phenomenon that until now only existed as a theory in the realm of… the Cantonal Archaeology of Aargau carried out a rescue excavation between early May 2024 and the end of March 2025 The Egyptian archaeological mission affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced the discovery of a group of defensive structures and a system of moats that could indicate… In the southeastern area of the city of Rome archaeologists excavating inside the Triton Baths within the monumental complex of the Villa di Sette… Why did some animals from ancient eras become fossils while others simply disappeared without a trace A recent study on the cave paintings of the Altamira Cave in Santillana del Mar Cantabria (Spain) has concluded that some of the artworks it contains could be much older… A team of paleontologists from the University of Leicester has managed to decipher one of the many enigmas of the dinosaur era—the exact moment when pterosaurs Rome achieved numerous military victories that allowed it to grow and dominate nearly the entire known world in Antiquity Receive our news and articles in your email for free You can also support us with a monthly subscription and receive exclusive content Historical Drama Takes University Stage Oct By Mike Emery 713-743-8186 The Spanish village of FuenteOvejuna is an idyllic place with peaceful residents until Commander Guzman assumes control of its land  Villagers are forced to endure his cruelty but even the most docile people have their breaking points the Commander may need to seek shelter … if it’s not too late Audiences soon will experience the fact-based drama “FuenteOvejuna” at the University of Houston’s Jose Quintero Theatre Presented by UH’s School of Theatre & Dance 9 – 18.  Show times are as follows: Tickets are $20 and $10. They can be purchased online through the School of Theatre & Dance’s ticket site or by calling 713-743-2929 Cast members include William Allen as Commander Guzman Jacob Perkel as Frondoso and Jenna Magallon as Jacinta Written by Lope de Vega between 1612 and 1614 “FuenteOvejuna” is based on an incident that occurred during the late 15th century in Castile The play is a mainstay on international stages Recent versions include a 2008 production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival It also has been performed as a musical in 1972 and is the source for Russian ballet “Laurencia.” Film versions include a popular 1947 production starring Fernando Rey and a television adaptation in 1974 “FuenteOvejuna” is among the plays that are being presented during the 2015 – 16 UH School of Theatre & Dance performance season Upcoming plays include “Three Sisters” (Nov 20 – 22); “Intimate Apparel” (Feb 19 – 28); “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (March 4 – 6); “She Kills Monsters” (April 22 – May 1) and the 10-Minute Play Festival Dance performances include Emerging Choreographers Showcase (Dec 5) and UH Ensemble Dance Works (April 1 – 3) All performances are in the Quintero Theatre the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre or Studio 208 All of these venues are located in UH’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts building (Entrance 16 off Cullen Boulevard.) about 45 centimeters long and weighing approximately between 24 and 32 kilograms were discovered years ago during the construction of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline at the Los Escoriales de Doña Rama site They are kept at the Belmez Museum and in private homes Two of them bear a distinctive mark with the letters “S S” which corresponds to the societas Sisaponensis an ancient mining company from La Bienvenida (Almodóvar del Campo This mark indicates that the ingots were intended for export revealing that ancient Roman Córdoba was not only a production center but also a strategic point for Mediterranean trade The international and multidisciplinary team led by the University of Córdoba investigated these ingots and their conclusions were published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology Through chemical analysis and stable isotopes it was established that these ingots were desilvered and that the ore from which they were derived came from the Fuente Obejuna-Azuaga district The uniqueness of this discovery lies in the fact that the ingots were found in the same location where they were manufactured something unusual since most of these ingots have been found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea the researchers collaborated with specialists from the University of Toulouse who have been studying the composition of ingots found at the bottom of the sea UCO researcher Antonio Monterroso Checa explained that this discovery places northern Córdoba within the primary networks of metallurgical and commercial production of the ancient Mediterranean Monterroso also noted that this finding suggests that the Doña Rama site could have been a mining settlement with a mine and knowledge to achieve that level of manufacturing This study is part of the MEI-Heritage Project funded by the Junta de Andalucía and the Research and Transfer Unit in Heritage Sciences at the University of Córdoba The research is also related to the project “Production and Circulation of Goods in the Southern Edge of the Plateau” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation The government in Spain’s Andalusia region on Monday approved the fourth decree of measures against drought with an endowment of €200 million ($216 million) The announcement of approval was made by Juanma Moreno the president of the Andalusian government in his speech at a meeting of the expert committee to monitor the drought in Seville Moreno added that €50 million of the total amount will be allocated to aid measures for the agri-food sector Reminding the private sector and citizens about their responsibilities in the use of water he said: "We are in an extreme situation and it is not about alarming He underscored that everyone has to "make an enormous effort to contain water consumption."
 "At least 30 days of continuous rain" are needed he said and added that the summer will begin with water restrictions in regional cities such as Seville The fourth drought decree was advised on Jan 18 during the meeting of a committee of experts The previous decree was approved at the end of April LondonAnya Chalotra is compelling as a 16-year-old who leads the women in her Indian village to stand up to Art Malik’s sadistic since Joan Littlewood directed Lope de Vega’s play at this same theatre in 1955 and even if there are moments when the new production’s modern setting is at odds with the original story The action has been shifted from Spain to a rural India under the spell of the rightwing ruling BJP sees “cleansing Hindustan of the Muslim pest” as part of his mission He is also steeped in corruption and a serial rapist who is in love with a Muslim boy and who incites the women of her village to avenge themselves on the tyrannical cop some of the original’s complexity is lost: where De Vega’s play combines collective action with a belief in monarchical authority this version implausibly suggests a progressive Hindu politician would have the power to offer pardon spin-doctors and Bollywood movies and its endorsement of women’s power to fight against male brutality Between resistance and submission … Chalotra with Art Malik as the Inspector Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The GuardianIt is Fall’s production turns the scene in which the women attack Gangwar like bacchantes into a riot of flailing bodies glimpsed through a swirl of red dust Anya Chalotra as Jyoti moves compellingly from strong-willed adolescent to fiery militant reminding women they always have a choice between resistance and submission And Scott Karim lends her Muslim lover his own brand of surly defiance Although this version turns the police inspector into a stereotypical sadist Art Malik plays him with the right overweening hauteur with its stress on a whole community’s inbuilt sense of justice but this is still an invigorating start to Stratford’s new regime At Theatre Royal Stratford East, London Spain's national geographic institute (IGN) recorded an earthquake of 4.1 magnitude with its epicentre in the Seville town of Cazalla de la Sierra in the early hours of Thursday 27 February It was felt in around 200 municipalities in four provinces: Seville informing that the earthquake had occurred around 3.29am (Spanish mainland time) at a depth of 10 kilometres The earthquake was felt with greater intensity (III-IV) in 17 municipalities: Alanís Tocina and Valencina de la Concepción in the province of Seville; Esparragosa de la Serena Malcocinado and Talavera la Real in Badajoz; Hornachuelos and Fuente Obejuna in Cordoba; and Jabugo in Huelva Another 166 municipalities also experienced it although with a less intense magnitude: 32 with intensity III; 59 with intensity II-III; and another 75 with intensity II The IGN recorded an aftershock an hour later with a magnitude of 1.7 and an epicentre in the Seville town of Constantina at a depth of three kilometres Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados The incident actually happened in the 15th century immortalised 150 years later by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega and no doubt it was a bloodier and messier affair than its mythologising in flamenco by Antonio Gades in 1994 one of Spain’s greatest flamenco soloists and a great man of theatre (as his reimagining of Carmen and Blood Wedding showed) was fired up both aesthetically and politically he loved the inseparability of flamenco's poetry and Spain’s folkdance from the struggle to survive the land but he also relished the theatrical panorama of dances and music across centuries that this tale allowed The girls do their laundry in a gorgeous dance with sheets that cascade and tumble like the sparkling river So in Fuenteovejuna he has created a lyrical 90-minute dance-opera using a proud sweep of Spain's history from baroque court rounds to rude tavern folk ditties and flamenco deployed to tell of innocent newlyweds and rapacious Spanish military of the community’s earthy peasant ways and the refined classical art period in which the event took place The evil Comendador swathes himself in slow motion in gleaming armour and prances out to seize his droit de seigneur from the village Old and young men yammer in the tavern about the seizure of young bride Laurencia in a table-thumping ensemble of fiercely clapping hands and solo yowls of “Ayeee!” that manage to be all mouth and no trousers Gades had a rare gift for marshalling ensembles with exact expressive force and he chops up their garrulous indecision with swift silent-movie tableaux as the Comendador rapes Laurencia a tidal wave of violated heroines beating down their menfolk’s resistance Sight and sound make an ardent spectacle and ritual telling of this important story - its importance comes from the Aragonese judges’ decision to capitulate when they found that all the Fuenteovejunians insisted on taking culpability for the Comendador’s murder Though torture did for several of the men and boys in reality the village became legendary for brandishing communal retribution like a declaration of freedom from slavery Gades handles his totemic parable with dextrous with Dominique You's cunningly spare lighting which creates sudden rooms and Pedro Moreno's plain and effective farming props It’s all of a piece with its tapestry of music part recorded - the lyrical songs of the land men skip abruptly up and down while women sway forward and back) While it’s kneecapped twice by bewilderingly gauche interpolations of the Russian Modest Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition used as “horrid music” the baroque dances are a delightful mix with the hefty strumming live guitars and drums Flamenco folkdance is one unique form where you instinctively look to the older ones to show the young a trick or two a human dimension and enjoyment of age difference that hugely enhances the suspense of this particular story The performers switch democratically between singing enjoying their differences and their unanimity as if all is a natural part of human expression as if only these peasants are complete human beings By contrast the Spanish commander and his attendants It was more damaging to last night’s story impact that Miguel Angel Rojas’s Comendador lacked the reptilian villainy that his strikingly choreographed role seems to call for This is only the UK's second view of the piece since its creation the show last night felt too gentle and well-bred a ritual lacking bitter momentousness - in the reality of today the performers of Fuenteovejuna should be tearing up the stage with their relevance Watch Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos in an extract from Gades' De Falla flamenco ballet El amor brujo More information about text formats We urgently need financing to survive. 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And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday Simply enter your email address in the box below View previous newsletters Bringing a 17th century play to life and keeping it fresh and entertaining especially if the original is rather heavy in diction and content improvisational theatre and audience involvement- André Delicata Daniel Goldman’s adaptation of Lope De Vega’s 1619 play based upon a real event in 1476 – Fuenteovejuna Lust and Lynching in Fuente Ovejuna – a terrific West End fringe theatre hit gains major points for the comedy treatment it was given But it also portrays the essential plotline and emotional journeys of De Vega’s original very well Mellow Drama’s current production of Love Lust and Lynching came as a very welcome break from the rather heavy theatrical fare we’ve been having over the past few weeks It manages to come across as a wonderful hybrid of drama improvisational theatre and audience involvement without falling back on the crutch of farcical silliness and is to be commended from the onset even for this Director Wesley Ellul stated in his note that the aim was to strip theatre down to “its barest essentials” and expose “the true soul of theatre which lies in the players themselves” His direction and enthusiasm clearly rubbed off on the fantastic cast of likable characters he put together Stefan Cachia Zammit gave an excellent performance as the villain of the piece plutocratic Commander of the Order of Calatrava who lords it over the villagers of Fuente Ovejuna (The Sheep’s Well) and attempts and often manages to have his way with the pretty village girls All that is except Jo Caruana’s feisty Laurencia who doesn’t even give him the time of day and has such emancipatory ideas that her way of thinking is rather too progressive for her fellow villagers David Chircop’s Frondoso is in love with her and despite her initial rejections he still saves her from the commander’s clutches comically taking Guzman’s crossbow and first threatening him and then stealing it and running off leaving him unarmed and alone in a forest glade Mr Chircop gave a great performance as the love-struck Frondoso whose guitar-strumming love scene with Laurencia was really quite clever It weaved in lines from popular songs into his reasons for loving her while she responded trying to brush him off she relents and realises that she does love him Their on-stage chemistry and energy was matched by that of Alexandra Camilleri Warne’s Pascuala their friend the milkmaid and Luke Farrugia’s Mengo the shepherd These two characters had terrific supporting roles and made the very best of them – coming across as dynamic and strong Indeed these two gave outstanding performances and bagged several laughs while still involving the audience in some of their more poignant moments in the play The two most comical characters – no doubt were Jean-Pierre Busuttil’s King Ferdinand and Julia Calvert’s Queen Isabella They played their roles with the perfect send-up of upper-crust snobbery acting rather like talk-show hosts and providing the political satire of rulers who are too detached from their people to know what is going on in their country Fuente Ovejuna’s mayor and Laurencia’s father and Justin Camilleri’s Barrilldo as deputy mayor also gave effective performances They helped convey the play’s original plot Alessandra Camilleri’s Rodrigo Tellez Giron Justin Mamo’s Flores and Alessandro Grech La Rosa’s Ortuno completed a cast whose individual performances were solid and helped the fluid progression of the piece thanks to the great sense of timing which everybody had This was essential in the parts involving the audience because of the fact that coupled with presence of mind the flow was uninterrupted as unwitting members were roped in to actively participate in the development of the play the eventual chase and mass “lynching” of Commander Guzman and the eventual torture of the villagers at the hands of the Inquisitor (also played by the multi-talented Mr Cachia Zammit) to find out who killed the commander the concept of turning the viewers into extras and participants grew into a strength in itself The audience is in for a few surprises when it comes to this self-reflexive play which comments on its own theatrical devices and makes fun of others while never losing sight of the play’s original intentions • The play is also being staged on Friday please register for free or log in to your account.