The Cabildo de Tenerife presented this morning [Monday, the 9th] the second Muestra Escénica Iberoamericana (MEI), to be held from 20 March to 3 May, at their base, Teatro El Sauzal. It includes 12 shows with 16 performances and features actors like Nuria Espert and Blanca Portillo. The details were disclosed by the Councillor of Culture, Education, Youth and Sport of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Concepción Rivero, and Auditorio de Tenerife’s artistic director, José Luis Rivero.

The councillor explained that “the budget this year amounts to 350,000 euros, which have been put to good use as bringing cultural events of this category to the island is enriching for all of us” Concepción stressed that staging a show like this is quite difficult: “It’s not easy to bring this type of shows to the Canaries but we’re working on it and we’ll also manage to take it to other spots on the island”.

For his part, José Luis Rivero explained the three basic points of MEI: “The first one is to bring top-level national and international theatre;  the second point refers to form, as these are not usual performances in Italian style; instead, they experiment with forms and the audience has a more immersive participation; and finally, artistic construction, which deals with the evils of our time including gender violence, migration, gender identity, the building of Europe, etc”.

This project opens a door from the island to other cultures by means of the Latin American performing arts, centring on a specific country in the Foco Section, which this year is dedicated to Argentina.

After the first weekend in January, which focused on writer, director and playwright Juan Mayorga, MEI is back in spring to offer the best of the contemporary scene, paying particular attention to Argentinian productions, which use a personal, transgressing and local touch to convey to Tenerife audiences the reality of the country.  Concepción said that this January introduction was necessary because “the shows were touring the Canaries and we could just not miss the chance to enjoy them in Tenerife”.

Federico García Lorca’s Romancero gitano directed by Lluís Pascual and with the voice of Nuria Espert opens MEI on 20 and 21 March. On 28 March Siete hombres buenos comes onstage. It is by Madrid playwright Juan Mayorga and has never been put on. The Canarian company 2RC Teatro ventured to stage it.

Chilean actor Felipe Cabezas becomes El Bufón del rey Lear on 4 April. After Easter, Galicia company Limiar Teatro is putting on Si fuesen turistas llevarían gafas de sol on 15 April. On 17 and 18 April comes Virginia Wolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, with Blanca Portillo in the leading role.

Unahoramenos Producciones brings a national premiere, Moria, on 23 April. The company has taken up quite a challenge: simulating a Greek refugee camp.  There will be three performances for 50 people each at 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm. In addition, this Canarian company will also give a workshop on immersive theatre for professionals at 4:00 pm on 21 April. At 8:30 pm on the 22nd, there will be a round table made up by journalist Nicolás Castellano, photographer Anna Surinyach, a Médicos Sin Fronteras representative, director Mario Vega and actors Ruth Sánchez and Marta Viera.

Foco Argentina kicks off with Millones de segundos on 25 April and Mi fiesta the following day. At the first weekend of May, the Foco section will come to an end with Ojalá las paredes gritaran on the 2nd and Abnegación 3 the following day. The latter is a workshop for local actors, who can take part by registering on www.meitenerife.com.

All the shows, except for Moria, start at 8:30 pm at the Teatro el Sauzal, except for Abnegación 3, which will be on at the town’s Centro Cultural, next to the theatre. Information, photographs and videos of the programme are available on www.meitenerife.com.

Tickets are 12 euros and can be bought on www.meitenerife.com, Teatro El Sauzal’s box office 90 minutes before every MEI performance and at Auditorio de Tenerife’s box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm Monday to Saturday. The usual discounts available at the Cabildo’s cultural centre for the unemployed, large families, under 30-year-olds, students and groups apply. The discounts Teatro El Sauzal offers residents also apply.

MEI 2020 kicked off on 17 January with the show Intensamente azules followed by El mago, on the 18th. They are both by Juan Mayorga, doctor in Philosophy, member of the Real Academia Española, Premio Nacional de Teatro 2007 and Premio Nacional de Literatura Dramática 2013.

MEI is a project of Auditorio de Tenerife’s Instituto de Artes Escénicas de Tenerife, which is under the Department of Culture, Education, Youth and Sport of the Cabildo de Tenerife, led by Councillor Concepción Rivero.