NEWS CENTER – The theater team, which went on tour in the Basque country, staged their first play at the Viktoria Cultural Center in San Sebastian. This play was also the European premiere of the work. Written by Galler Irusta in 2019 and staged by director Mireia Gabilondo, the play shows how the four walls of an isolated cell can be exposed to unlimited human rights violations, like a never-ending light, by showing the human life confined to a tiny space.
“Cell Without a Night” (La celda sin noche) is the debut play of Irusta, a young playwright, film and theater director born in Bilbao, Spain in 1995.
Irusta tells the story of Abdullah Öcalan’s imprisonment, the evolution of political thought, political proposals; It deals with ideas that he developed under heavy isolation.
Instead of a simple oral narrative, the play takes the audience on an emotional journey through narratives reflecting Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s own ideological journey.
Artistic freedom of expression alone allows for an innovative representation of what goes on inside a cell. Three characters representing the thinking of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan guide the viewer through the intricacies of complete imprisonment and honest political transformation. The audience follows the discussions between these three characters and falls under the spell of the freedom of thought that remains unlimited despite the limitations of the prison.
Although this story is a story of the struggle of the Kurds, Irusta and Gabilondo actually bring a human rights advocacy story to the stage by telling it through the captivity and resistance of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan. It sheds light on the possibility of a democratic future in the Middle East, and one that could also have implications for the entire world, if we listen carefully.
“Cell Without a Night” was developed and selected by the “New Dramaturgies” program (Nuevas Dramaturgias / Antzerkiginzta Berriak) organized by the three municipal theaters of the Basque capitals Bilbao, Donostia / San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The play is a joint production of these three theatres, Antzerkiz and the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture.
The creative team of the game is Basque and Costa Rican talent Mireia Gabilondo (director), Fernando Bernués (scenography and costumes), David Bernués (lights and audiovisual). Starring mainly Andres Montero, Noelia Campos and Roberto Bautista. Assistant director Natalia Regidor, sound director Daniel Alarcón. The production team from Costa Rica consists of Rafael Ávalos, Sally Molina and Arlette Arroyo.
