Greetings, dear readers. Here’s for another milestone! Thirty weeks in a row, this newsletter have arrived to your inbox. I hope you are reading it and finding it interesting. Remember, I’m open to suggestions and to hear what are you enjoying the most. Oh, if you new here and want to catch up, you can check the archive to read past issues. 😄

This week’s main topic might be a bit unpleasant, because it is a reminder of a dark episode of the current century. Yes, I’m aware that spooky season is over, but I’m talking about zoom rehearsals and performances.

I spent six hours of my recent weekend in front of the computer, I had both improv and Playback Theatre rehearsals online. And that triggered forgotten feelings inside.

The improv rehearsal was to prepare the upcoming Strange New Things show at Improv Fest Ireland next week, directed by Ann “Crim” Crimmins, and with a cast of American and Irish improvisers… and me. We needed to do it online for obvious reasons.

The Playback Theatre one was the monthly online rehearsal ran by True Heart Theatre. Sadly, not all members are based in London, so we meet online every now and then.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t like doing improv and playback online for many reasons, being the reminiscence of the lockdown the main one. The other one, the extra effort I have to do to stay focused,a thing that now I understand that better thanks to my recent diagnosis.

However, there were silver linings. It took a catastrophe to shorten the distance between artists all over the globe and get creative. The best art always comes from adversity, and it showed. For several months we adopted the media and squeezed the hell out of it. We needed to do it, for the sake of our sanity.

Improv have never been more accessible. International workshops online were booming and it was both a blessing and a curse. It was very easy to enter in paralysis by analysis in front of all the choices we could take. I learned a lot about new improv formats, I played with people from all around the world, and stablished new connections that later on materialised in person.

I think Playback Theatre, particularly, got more creative. Well, by default it is more creative (no offense, improvisers). While improv online felt mostly like a parade of talking heads, with different backgrounds, the playback community experimented with the media more, creating compelling compositions to honour people’s stories.

Five years later, it all seems like a fever dream.

I don’t know about improv, but I’m aware there are several companies still doing playback online, which is commendable considering the mental energy required.

Do you still perform online?

🎭 The Theatre bit

When talking about Spanish theatre, there’s a name that always comes up: Federico Garcia Lorca. The playwright and poet from Granada is a staple of our culture. Sadly, in 1936 he was arrested and executed by the fascists troops. His charges: being homosexual. Up until this day, the location of his remains is still unknown.

In the lastest episode of Drag Race España, they made an homage to Lorca doing a musical version of La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba). That pushed me to read it again, I haven’t read it since high school.

Set in a house under the matriarchy of Bernarda Alba, the play begins after her second husband's death. She immediately establishes an eight-year mourning period, demanding her five daughters to remain inside the house at all times while it lasts.

It is indeed a masterpiece. Lorca knew how to intertwine theatre and poetry like no other. His management of the dynamics between the numerous characters on the play is masterful, but also its depiction of the life and the role of women on the rural Spain during the 1930s.

Unlike other plays that I feature on my newsletter, this has been widely translated, so I absolutely recommend you to read it, as well as the rest of Lorca’s works. My favourite is Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding). 🩸

📆 What is coming up

• 7th - 10th of November - Belfast Improv Festival (Belfast, UK). I’m going back to Belfast for the improv festival, and I’m looking forward to perform in the ensemble directed by Nick Armstrong. Get your tickets.

• 14th of November - Acaprov (London, UK). You can book your place to see another a cappella musical in Shoreditch. Get your tickets.

• 12th - 15th of November - Improv Fest Ireland (Dublin, Ireland). I’m also coming back to my favourite improv festival in the whole world. I’m going to be performing with fellow Improv Utopia Campers and local improvisers. Get your tickets.

📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert

So, having covered improv, playback, and a play about people in lockdown, it's adequate to bring up one of the things that kept me, and countless others, from despair during that time. I was also hooked to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It was a cultural phenomenon.

Playing this game was soothing. Managing and decorating my own island, inviting cute animals to live in, building houses, digging up fossils, gardening… I even played with other improvisers, visiting their islands and exchanging goods. There was a lot to do in our little colorful world, while the real one was in shambles.

I’m bringing this now because, last week, Nintendo announced a major update and upgrade for this title on Nintendo Switch 2 consoles. To be honest, although I will check it out, I don’t see myself coming back for a long stay. I alreadt spent my fair amount of time on my digital island.