THE SWALLOW 
LA GOLONDRINA

30th April – 26th May 2018 – 30 de abril – 26 de mayo 218

(Click here for Audience Reviews)

Ray (Ramón) wants to work on his vocal technique before singing at the memorial service of his mother who has recently passed away. He seeks out the help of Emily (Amelia), a strict singing teacher who runs classes from her home.  As the classes go on, the two characters begin to reveal details about their pasts, both of which have been significantly affected by a terrorist attack.

The true significance of this event forces them both to reflect on their identities up to such a point that they will end up forever united by a shared song for life

‘What makes us human? For Amelia, a deeply wounded mother, what makes us humans is the capacity to feel other’s pain as your own. When an indiscriminate attack happens, we are all victims who have to deal with the same crossroads: hate or love. Our world depends on the direction we decide to take’  – Guillem Clua. 

Translated by Tim Gutteridge

With the support of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E)

TICKETS from £15 – NO Booking Fee

PERFORMANCES

30th April – 26th May  2018 – 30 de abril – 26 de mayo  2018 7:30 pm

Spanish language performances/ Representaciones en español  

From 30th April – 5th May  Desde 30 de abril – 5 de mayo 

English language performances/ Representaciones en inglés

From 7th May – 26th May Desde 7 de Mayo- 26 Mayo

Guillem Clua

Playwright

Guillem Clua (Barcelona, 1973) is a playwright, screenwriter and theatre director who graduated from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, spending a year at the London Guildhall University with an Erasmus scholarship. Clua’s work draws on his personal experiences to tackle timeless themes such as identity as well as contemporary issues like the Iraq War. The critics have described his work as multidisciplinary and eclectic, and as having a special preoccupation for the narrative structure. His work has had an international trajectory, having been translated into English, German and French. Likewise, it has received various awards such as the 2011 Butaca Award, the 2013 Time Out Award, and the 2017 Max Award.

Paula Paz

Director

Paula Paz is a theatre director and a former professional ballet dancer. She is the co-founder and associate director of the Cervantes Theatre in London and the Spanish Theatre Company.

Paula holds an MA with Distinction in Theatre Directing from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and she began her career as a professional Ballet Dancer with companies such as Angel Corella Ballet, Maria Gimenez Ballet and Ballet Ireland.

At the Cervantes Theatre she has directed The Swallow by Guillem Clua and Darwin’s Tortoise by Juan Mayorga in both Spanish and English. Other directing credits include Knives in Hens by David Harrower at the KC Theatre, the dramatised reading of Sebastián Junyent’s It is Necessary to Take Apart the House at the White Bear Theatre and of ‘History of a Staircase’ by Buero Vallejo at Canada Water Culture Space and Eigengrau by Penelope Skinner at Mountview.

DAVID LUQUE

David Luque,  is  an  English  Literature  Graduate  from  the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He studied the Lecoq Technique with María del Mar Navarro and became a permanent member of the ensemble of the Teatro de  la  Abadía  in  2000,  where  he  studied  with  leading  authorities  such as Tapa Sudana,  Juan Carlos Gené, Lenard Petit  and  Marcelo  Magni. Most recently  David  Luque co-stared  as  Rodrigo  Salazar  in  the  film Teresa which  premiered  at  the  San  Sebastian  International  Film Festival. 

In theatre he was recently seen in Alex Rigolas’s El Público by F.G. Lorca; Film  includes: Goya’s  Ghost (Milos  Forman), The  Reckoning (Paul McGuigan),  People in Places (Juan Cavestany), El club de los suicidas (R. Santiago), Goya en Burdeos (Carlos Saura), Sleeping Luck and One word from you (A.G. Sinde); Television  includes: El Ministerio del Tiempo, Bandolera, Cuéntame,  El  síndrome  de Ulises, SMS,  24H,  Antivicio. In  2011 he co-founded with stage director Fefa Noia the company Los Lunes. Together, they have staged “Wild Wild Wilde” by J.R. Fernández, Cuerdas by Bárbara Colio, Ayuda by Maria Goos and País by Fefa Noia.

AMPARO CLIMENT

Amparo Climent is a multidisciplinary Fine Arts graduate artist. She studied performance, directing and playwrighting at both the “Official School of Filmography at Madrid” and the Valencian school ‘El Micalet’.

She is the scriptwriter and director of shorts and documentary films such as: Las lágrimas de África, Porteadoras and, cooproducer of ‘Los sueños de Idomeni’. Furthermore, she is the author of many plays such as: La caja oscura, Hijas de la soledad, A Pony le pintaban los labios de rojo, Las hijas del mal, El último destello…

She is part of the Board of Directors of the ‘Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain’ and has served on the Committee of Experts advising the Spanish Ministry of Culture on funding for cinematography

JERYL BURGESS

Theatre includes Fear and Misery (Union), The Robbers, Hamlet, Thebes (New Diorama/Greenwich), Humble Boy (National Tour), Contactless (Hen and Chickens), St George’s Day (Park), What’s Your Issue (Cockpit), Sleepers’ Diner (Arts), Absolution (Theatre 503), Memory of Summer (Jermyn Street), The Laundry (Jack Studio), Lines (Rosemary Branch), The Winter’s Tale (Rose, Bankside).  Film includes Seven Lucky Gods (Jamil Dehlavi), A Nightmare on your Street (Stephen Hopkins). TV includes PREMature (LigerFilms).