Sun, August 13, 2017 06:52 PM
Washington, DC – GALA Hispanic Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of the commissioned adaptation by Nando López of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorilla. López authored the adaptation of the Helen Hayes Award-winning Yerma. Directed by José Carrasquillo, Don Juan Tenorio is performed in Spanish with English surtitles from September 7 through October 1, 2017

at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The theater is one block from the Columbia Heights metro station on the Green and Yellow lines. Discounted parking is available behind the theater at the Giant Food garage.

For more than four decades,” comments Hugo Medrano, GALA Producing Artistic Director and co-founder, “GALA has staged the classics of the Hispanic canon for Washington audiences. We have told those stories in their original forms and commissioned new versions that make the works accessible for today’s audiences.” 

In this contemporary adaptation of Don Juan Tenorio, the legendary lover pursues his vampiric impulses until he is redeemed by love.  Remaining true to the language of Zorilla, López has distilled the story to its essence. He has combined characters and made them more complex, incorporating features of those appearing in versions by Tirso de Molina, Moliere, and Da Ponte. In particular, the women are stronger and multi-faceted, and the young Doña Ines is ultimately Don Juan’s salvation.  

“In his new version,” adds Carrasquillo, “López highlights the sensual and seductive nature of Don Juan, turning his voracious sexual appetite into a primal need for living like a vampire in “True Blood” or “Twilight”. “There also is,” states Carrasquillo, “a new discovery. The play ends with a feminist lesson: for Don Juan to attain redemption, he needs Doña Ines. And in those last moments of the drama, her voice is an early feminist manifesto.”

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