Visual Theater | Madrid

Tilmun Theater poster: Pedro Valiente

TILMUN THEATER

VISUAL THEATER COMPANY I DIRECTOR: PEDRO VALIENTE

ROBERTO ZUCCO BY BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS MADRID PREMIERE

CARESSESS BY SERGI BELBEL MADRID PREMIERE

NOTHING TO AMERICA BY JULIO CORTÁZAR WORLD PREMIERE

Tilmun Teatro (Tilmun Theater) is a university theater company created by CM. Fundación Sepi and CM. Isabel de España in Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Pedro Valiente was founding director (1992-1994), and set its future through a his mentor César Gil (1995-1997), and assistant director José Antonio Díaz (1998-2008).

Tilmun Theater was arguably ahead of its time premiering European and Latin American contemporary theater breaking conventions in the frame of university theater anywhere. In its early years, Tilmun Theater did a pioneering work through the use of video on stage, introducing original live contemporary music, and integrating artists from the national scene.

TILMUN

There is a mythical island called Tilmun in the Sumerian culture which lies in the origins of Western civilization. Somewhere in the Adriatic sea, it was a land of freedom and peace.

"The lands of Magan [Egypt] and Tilmun

looked up at me.
I, Enki, moored the Tilmun-boat at the coast,
Loaded the Magan-boat sky high.
The joyous boat of Meluhha
transports gold and silver."

--SUMERIAN TEXT

START

Juan José Sánchez, deputy director at CM. Fundación Sepi, assigned Pedro Valiente as Tilmun Theater first director. Pedro lived for four years in the college, performed in its joint theater company with CM Berrospe, and served as coordinator of its Aula de Teatro (theater assembly). At the time, Pedro was a graduate student attending MA and then PhD programs; and undertaking his first professional job ever as the youngest staff writer in performing arts in Spain --working for four years in El Público (The Public) magazine of the Ministry of Culture of Spain. Working as Tilmun Theater director, Pedro received the highest Fulbright grant of the year in Spain. He moved to study and live in New York for ten years as a grounding training to develop interdisciplinary and multicultural (artistic/professional/academic) work on film, visual, and performing arts.

FOUNDERS

Founding cast include Almudena Agulló, Alicia Martín, Carmen Mesa, Miguel Gayá, Domingo Rodríguez, Javier Losada, David de Francisco, Pedro Torres, and Matías Fuertes. All students at Universidad Complutense de Madrid and residents at CM. Fundación Sepi and CM. Isabel de España. Special mention to Alejandra Prieto and José Antonio Díaz who switched from their degrees to performing arts. Alejandra studied in the UK and the US, and later founded The Winged Cranes, professional theater company inspired by Bunraku, Japanese traditional theater. José Antonio Díaz directed Tilmun Theater for ten years; studied at National Theater School (RESAD); staged in Ensayo 100; and worked with Sara Sánchez, instructor at Tilmun Theater who premiered in Sala Cuarta Pared and Albéniz Theater, and was Finalist for Young Arts Award in Madrid State (Comunidad de Madrid).

RECOGNITION

Appreciation to Juan José Talavera, contemporary music composer and professor linked to the National Conservatory of Music (RCSMM), who created original music for Tilmun Theater. Antonio Cabello, The Lion King voice instructor, collaborated on directing as well as César Gil, executive producer at Spanish National Television (RTVE), who took over Tilmun Theater for several years. Producer José Manuel Valiente, who coordinated the first three Tilmun Theater plays, is director of Three Events, renown live events company in Spain. Recognition to Miguel Ángel Camacho, one of the main masters of light design in Spain, who mentored Roberto Zucco; Victoria Velázquez, who secured a later career on set/costume; and Elsa Sanz, one of the most awarded set/costume designers in Spain.

CONNECTIED

"Tilmun Theater founding director Pedro Valiente has kept long-term relationships with many members. Pedro collaborated with José Manuel Valiente's Three Events (2010-2013). Juan José Talavera composed music for Penelope is Waiting (2015) Pedro's video installation for Crossing Stages European Project at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Alejandra Prieto created Bunraku characters for You Are Mythical (2018), Pedro's transmedia documentary film exploring performing arts. Recently, a group of founding members attended Roberto Zucco at Matadero Madrid. Amazing people, incredible artists, outstanding profesisionals. May the spirit of the mythical Tilmun be with you all." --TILMUN THEATER

Pedro Valiente and founding members attended Roberto Zucco in Matadero Madrid years after Tilmun Theater's premiere

TILMUN THEATER I THE LAND OF TILMUN

MYTHICAL ISLAND IN THE ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION

"The origin of the Sumerians is one of the great unsolved mysteries of history. It is perhaps significant that the scene of one of their myths is laid in Tilmun." --JOHN GRAY, NEAR EASTERN MYTHOLOGY

"The first known account of a paradisiac garden appears on a cuneiform tablet from ancient Sumer. Here we learn of the mythical place called Tilmun, a pure, clean, bright place where sickness, violence, and old age do not exist. At first this paradise lacks only one thing: water. Eventually this is provided by the Sumerian water god, Enki." --ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARCHETYPAL SYMBOLISM

"The Mesopotamian texts described Tilmun as situated at the 'mouth' of two bodies of water. The texts spoke of mountainous Tilmun in the Sinai peninsula. Sargon of Akkad claimed that he reached as 'washed his weapons' in the Mediterranean. Tilmun my hand captured." --ZECHARIA SITCHIN, THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Tilmun Theater poster variations: Pedro Valiente

TILMUN THEATER I MULTIMEDIA THEATER

FROM THE DIRECTOR: PEDRO VALIENTE

"While attending a PhD program, I was assigned to start a new university theater company. Tilmun Teatro (Tilmun Theater) was born. We introduced video on stage in Madrid, used live contemporary music, and premiered modern European and Latin American work. Tilmun Theater was featured in national press, and incorporated adviser Miguel Ángel Camacho (light), and designers Victoria Velázquez and Elisa Sanz (set). Playwright/RESAD professor Pedro Vìllora remarked: “Tilmun Teatro’s work is at the level of Off-Madrid theater.” Later on the company was directed by Virginia Frutos who joined Teatro La Belloch, a renown theater company in Spain, and Alberto Basas, actor/director/instructor active in national theater and television.

I found for our first production, Nothing to America by Julio Cortázar, a seminal work somewhere in between Surrealism and Theater of the Absurd. We not only set four TV monitors on stage, we crafted audiovisual narrative for the stage. The screens represented four sides of a (virtual) character interacting with a (live) character. Music was live, original, and contemporary. Upcoming artists and professionals started to collaborate. Prestigious mentors supported us. And, at least in the context of the major university of Spain, nobody was doing anything closely similar.

The second production, Caresses by Sergi Belbel, stands as Madrid premiere. It's one of the most distinctive plays from someone that --after Federico García Lorca-- has been for a long time the most staged Spanish author in the world. The following year, I served as assistant director for Guillermo Heras who staged Caresses professionally in a national theater. Cast and crew was full of artists and scholars who now are high in the national scene.

The third production, Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès, despite of being an university work, was featured in national press as university theater most likely for the main contemporary playwright in France. Since CM. Fundación Sepi and CM. Isabel de España couldn't host the show, we performed in the professionally-equipped theater of CM. Elías Ahúja, and School of Fine Arts Theater in University Theater Festival at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Cortázar, Belbel, and Koltès along with devised theater, audiovisual narrative, contemporary music are words that, still today, are not commonplace in the university in Spain." --PEDRO VALIENTE

Tilmun Theater flyer I Set design by Elsa Sanz I Roberto Zucco in Matadero Madrid attended by Tilmun Theater team I Rhinoceros by Albrecht Dürer

TILMUN THEATER I COLLABORATORS

ARTISTS / PROFESSIONALS

MIGUEL ÁNGEL CAMACHO, award winning light designer and former technical director in national theaters, is professor at the National Theater School in Madrid. [www.academiadelasartesescenicas.es/miguel-angel-camacho/]

ELISA SANZ, set/costume designer and artist with multiple national theater awards and nominations. [www.elisasanz.net]

VICTORIA VELÁZQUEZ developed a professional career as a set/costume designer.

ALEJANDRA PRIETO, trained in the US and UK, is founder director of The Winged Cranes specialized in Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater. [www.redescena.net/compania/35690/the-winged-cranes]

CÉSAR GIL, executive producer for National Television (RTVE), was adviser and then director of Tilmun Theater. [www.rtve.es]

JUAN JOSÉ TALAVERA, composer of contemporary music and music professor in Madrid. [www.rcsmm.eu]

JOSÉ ANTONIO DÍAZ contributed to establish Tilmun Theater as assistant director and then long-time director.

JOSÉ MANUEL VALIENTE, founder director of Three Events, live events/communications agency. [www.3-events.com]

Roberto Zucco photos: Tilmun Theater

TILMUN THEATER I ROBERTO ZUCCO

BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS I MADRID PREMIERE

ROBERTO ZUCCO (1994, Spain, 90min) by Bernard-Marie Koltès at CM. Elías Ahúja Theater and School of Fine Arts Theater at University Theater Festival, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Director: Pedro Valiente. www.bellasartes.ucm.es

SYNOPSIS

A powerful psychological thriller based on an infamous true story of a lost soul driven to commit terrible crimes, seemingly without motive. Where does evil come from?

——-

Roberto Zucco follows Italian Roberto Succo, aged 18, sent to prison after violently murdering his parents. Five years later, he escaped and went on the run, defying police in three countries. Changing his identity many times, he embarked on a crime spree for two years –undetected. Is evil learned, is it forced upon a person or is a person just born that way? [Neues Schauspiel]

IN FOCUS

- Madrid premiere of Roberto Zucco (university theater)

- Production featured in El Mundo national press

- With the collaboration of national artists: set designer Elisa Sanz, and light designer Miguel Ángel Camacho

FROM BERNARD-MARIE KOLTÈS

Bernard-Marie Koltès (1848-1989) was a French playwright and theater director best known for his plays La Nuit juste avant les Forêts (The Night Just Before the Forests, 1976), Sallinger (1977) and Dans la Solitude des Champs de Coton (In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, 1986). A close friend and collaborator with the avant-garde director Patrice Chéreau, Koltès was considered to be one of the most important young voices in France, and heir apparent to the legacy left by post-war authors Samuel Beckett, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Genet.

ROBERTO ZUCCO

“ZUCCO: Quiero marcharme. Hay que marcharse en seguida. Hace demasiado calor, en esta mierda de ciudad. Quiero ir a África, bajo la nieve. Tengo que marcharme porque voy a morir. […] Me gustaría ser un perro amarillo, roído por la sarna, del que uno se aparta sin prestarle atención. Me gustaría ser un buscador de basuras por toda la eternidad. Quiero marcharme. Hay que marcharse en seguida. Hace demasiado calor, en esta mierda de ciudad. Quiero ir a África, bajo la nieve. Tengo que marcharme porque voy a morir. […] Me gustaría ser un perro amarillo, roído por la sarna, del que uno se aparta sin prestarle atención. Me gustaría ser un buscador de basuras por toda la eternidad..” [www.bernardmariekoltes.com]

MADRID PREMIERE

Bernard-Marie Koltès is arguably the most important playwright in France. Robert Zucco is his last play, and it's considered one of the most relevant in European contemporary theater. After its (professional) premiere in Barcelona, Lluís Pasqual presented it at the National Theater (CDN) in Madrid. Right before, Tilmun Theater premiered Roberto Zucco in Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

COLLABORATORS

MIGUEL ÁNGEL CAMACHO, award winning light designer and former technical director in national theaters, is professor at national theater school in Madrid. [www.academiadelasartesescenicas.es/miguel-angel-camacho/]

ELISA SANZ is a set/costume designer and artist with multiple national theater awards and nominations. [www.elisasanz.net]

CAST

José Antonio Díaz, Miguel Gayà, Domingo Rodríguez, Javier Losada, Pedro Torres, David de Francisco, Pere Gisper, Santiago Cortés, Iñaki Nieto, Miguel Ángel García, Eduardo García, Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, Alicia Martín, Mar Sáez, Carmen Mesa, Cecilia Menéndez, Esperanza Molina, Trinidad Cabrera, Silvia Clemente

CREW

Lighting: Eugenio Sánchez, Pablo Varela

Sound: José Carlos Hernández

Technical assistants: Daniel Marrón, Pablo Lozano, Carlos Martel

Set/Costume design: Victoria Velázquez, Elisa Sanz

Production coordinator: José Manuel Valiente

Assistant director: José Antonio Díaz

Lighting adviser: Miguel Ángel Camacho

Directing adviser: César Gil

Director: Pedro Valiente

Caresses directed by Guillermo Heras at National Theater in Madrid (former NTE)

NATIONAL THEATER I CARESSES

SERGI BELBEL I MADRID PREMIERE - PROFESSIONAL

CARESSES (1994, Spain, 90min) by Sergi Belbel at National Theater (current Teatro Valle-Inclán and former NTE). Director: Guillermo Heras. Assistant Directors: Pedro Valiente, Pepón Nieto, Pedro Manuel Víllora. www.dramatico.mcu.es

LINKS

- National Center for New Performing Arts: musicadanza.es/contenidos/CNNTE/?fbclid=IwAR2efMlbxAHgGzvRYt-JH69yUpQopiX7EJ6IfF_kAdbA99sba6BBNYr7xvw#teatro

- Caresses review: teatrero.com/caricias-1994

TILMUN THEATER I CARESSES

SERGI BELBEL I MADRID PREMIERE - UNIVERSITY

CARESSES (1993, Spain, 90min) by Sergi Belbel at CM. Isabel de España Theater, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Director: Pedro Valiente. www.cmisabel.com

SYNOPSIS

Disturbing picture of contemporary Western society set against a background of urban alienation and violence.

——-

Caresses (Caricias), inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's play La Ronde, presents ten scenes with two different characters in a confused and contradictory relationship. It was filmed in 1998 to critical acclaim. [www.nickhernbooks.com]

IN FOCUS

- Madrid premiere of Caresses (university theater)

- Live contemporary music

FROM SERGI BELBEL

Sergi Belbel (1963) is a Spanish playwright, director, and professor who served as director of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (2006-2013). He became well known with his play Caresses in 1992, and has received multiple international awards. Ventura Pons has turned some of his plays into films. [www.wikipedia.org/Sergi_Belbel]

CARESSES I SCENE 1
Sala de esta de un piso céntrico. Sillones. Hombre Joven y Mujer Joven. I Livingroom in a downtown apartment. Young Man and Young Woman.

YOUNG MAN. Qué raro. I It’s strange.
YOUNG WOMAN. Qué. I What.

YOUNG MAN. Todo esto. I All this.
YOUNG WOMAN. A qué te refieres. I What do you mean.

YOUNG MAN. No sé si te has dado cuenta. I I don’t know if you have realized.
YOUNG WOMAN. No. De qué. I No. What.
YOUNG MAN. Tengo la sensación… I I have the feeling…
YOUNG WOMAN. Di. I Tell me.
YOUNG MAN. La extraña sensación…I The strange feeling…
YOUNG WOMAN. Qué te pasa. I What’s up with you.
YOUNG MAN. Es como si… I It’s like…
YOUNG WOMAN. Como si qué… I Like what…
YOUNG MAN. Como si ya no… I Like if no…
YOUNG WOMAN. No qué. I No what.
YOUNG MAN. Como si ya no tuviéramos… I Like if we have not…

Pause

YOUNG WOMAN. Qué. I What.

YOUNG MAN. Nada que decirnos. I Nothing to tell each other. [www.catalandrama.cat/es/autor/sergi-belbel]

MADRID PREMIERE

Sergi Belbel has been for decades the Spanish playwright more staged in the world after Federico García Lorca, Sergi Belbel has been for decades one of the most renown Spanish playwrights. Caresses premiered professionally in Madrid at Spanish National Theater (former NTE) directed by Guillermo Heras, National Theater Award (1994). One year before, Tilmun Theater did Caresses Madrid premiere in the university circuit.

COLLABORATORS

ALEJANDRA PRIETO, trained in the US and UK, is founder director of The Winged Cranes specialized in Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater. [www.redescena.net/compania/35690/the-winged-cranes]

CÉSAR GIL, former executive producer for Spanish National Television (RTVE), served as senior professor in several media schools. [www.rtve.es]

JOSÉ ANTONIO DÍAZ studied Political Sciences, and contributed as a director to develop Tilmun Theater.

CAST

Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, Goretti Irisarri, Alicia Martín, Araceli Sáez, Carmen Mesa, Santiago Cortos, José Antonio Díaz, Miguel Gayá, Javier Losada, Carlos Alba, Pedro Torres, Matías Fuertes, Emilio Blanco

CREW

Set/Costume: Tilmun Teatro

Lighting: Pablo Lezcano, Pablo Varela

Music: Flute: Raquel Pérez, Oboe: Gema Iranzo, Clarinet: Miguel Ángel Alonso, Guitar: Juan José Talavera, Piano: Esther Rodríguez, Composed/directed by Juan José Talavera

Production coordinator: José Manuel Valiente

Assistant directors: César Gil, Antonio Cabello

Director: Pedro Valiente

Nothing to America by Julio Corttázar I Photo: Tilmun Theater

TILMUN THEATER I NOTHING TO AMERICA

JULIO CORTÁZAR I WORLD PREMIERE

NOTHING TO AMERICA (1992, Spain, 90min) by Julio Cortázar at CM. Isabel de España Theater, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Director: Pedro Valiente. www.sepi.es/es/fundacion-sepi

SYNOPSIS

Absurd and surrealistic story of a man in need of sending a embalmed monkey by regular post office in rural Argentina in the 1950s.

——-

Nothing to America is the title given to Nada a Pehuajó, a play written by Julio Cortázar in far away Agentina when Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett crafted in Europe the Theater of the Absurd.

IN FOCUS

- Nothing to America world premiere

- Pioneering use of video on stage

- Tilmun Theater’s first production

FROM JULIO CORTÁZAR

Julio Cortázar (1914-1984) Argentinian poet, short story writer, and translator, is part of the boom of excellence in Latin American letters in the 50-60s. He combines fantastic plots with daily events and characters looking for new ways to represent life.

“Only by living absurdly is it possible to break out of this infinite absurdity. […] I think we all have a little bit of that beautiful madness that keeps us walking when everything around us is so insanely sane. […] Only in dreams, in poetry, in play do we sometimes arrive at what we were before we were this thing that, who knows, we are.” [www.en.wikipedia.org/Julio_Cortázar]

NOTHING TO AMERICA

Nothing to America (Nada a América - Nada a Pehuajó) has been described as “theater of the humor and absurd, transgressor, irreverent.” It's a Surrealist play written by Julio Cortázar when Eugène Ionesco and Arthur Adamov created the Theater of the Absurd. The manuscript was found in Zaragoza, Spain. Tilmun Theater staging was designed around an audiovisual dramaturgy including video monitors, and live contemporary music.

WORLD PREMIERE

Tilmun Theater did Nothing to America world premiere. In the 90s in Madrid professional theater companies did not use video on stage. As it happened with Caresses and Roberto Zucco, a year after it was presented by Tilmun Theater, it premiered nationally.

COLLABORATORS

JUAN JOSÉ TALAVERA is a composer of contemporary music and music lecturer in Madrid. [www.rcsmm.eu]

JOSE VALIENTE is founder director of Three Events, live events and communications agency. [www.3-events.com]

CAST

José Antonio Díaz, Matías Fuertes, Pedro Torres, Álvaro Montesinos, Joaquín Fernández, José Ángel Marrero, Francisco Morales, Iván Juanes, Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, María Eugenia Montojo, María Ortega, Dolores Sánchez, María Peña, Blanca Sicilia, Dolores Sánchez, Tati García, María Rubio

MUSIC

Violin: Fernando Sánchez, Viola: Manuel Fernández, Violonchelo: Lorena Z. R. Casaux, Guitar: Juan José Talavera, Accordion: Iván Gandía, Composed/directed by Juan José Talavera

VIDEO

Camera: José Manuel Valiente

Director: Pedro Valiente

Recording set / Editing studio: Centro de Estudios del Vídeo (CEV)

CREW

Set/Costume/Lighting/Sound: Tilmun Teatro

Assistant director: José Manuel Valiente

Director: Pedro Valiente

TILMUN THEATER I TIMELINE

1992-2022 ANNIVERSARY

1992-1993 | Tilmun Theater is born in September 1992. Pedro Valiente, PhD student, is assigned as director. Workshop in Fall semester, production in Spring semester.

The first project is the world premiere of Nothing to America by Argentinian Julio Cortázar --one of the main writers in Spanish of all time. Staging includes multiple video monitors, and live contemporary music.

1993-1994 | The second project is the Madrid premiere of Caresses by Spanish Sergi Belbel --one of the most staged Spanish playwrights in the world. Staging introduces contemporary dramaturgy in the university circuit, grows in acting, and reaches audience success.

1994-1995 | The third project is the Madrid premiere of Roberto Zucco by French Bernard-Marie Koltès --the main contemporary playwright in France. Staging is featured in national press, and praised by national writers/scholars. A prestigious independent theater in Off-Madrid, Sala Cuarta Pared, accepted to present work by Tilmun Theater. Finally, the company performs in the School of Fine Arts Theater, University Theater Festival at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

In 1995, Pedro Valiente is awarded the highest Arts Grant by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, currently Fulbright Program. Pedro moves to New York to study (filmmaking, writing, performing arts), and develop artistic/professional work for ten years. Pedro asks his professor/mentor César Gil to take over Tilmun Theater. Executive producer at Spanish National Television (RTVE), and company's adviser from the start, César focuses on acting, and switches to Spanish modern theater.

1997-2007 | José Antonio Díaz, actor and assistant director from the start, becomes the third director of Tilmun Theater. J.A. Díaz leads one of the most stable periods of the company.

In 1999, The Scream of Campanilla (El grito de campanilla) by Sara Sánchez, directed by J.A. Díaz wins the University Theater Festival of Madrid State (I Certamen de Teatro Universitario de la Comunidad de Madrid) in a public event at Albéniz Theater.

In 2007, An Ideal Husband (Un marido ideal) by Óscar Wilde, directed by J.A. Díaz/Sara Sánchez, appears in the book The Reception of Óscar Wilde in Europe (2010) by Stefano Evangelista (ed), published by Bloomsbury.

2008-2009 | Sara Sánchez, Beatriz Cobo, Joaquín Manso, José Díaz, and Rosa Torres share directing and stage European contemporary theater. It may be the most active phase on promotion and social media in the company's history.

2010-2013 | Virginia Frutos is Tilmun Theater new director collaborating with Carlos García González --upcoming creators in performing arts staging work in Sala Triángulo and Garaje Lumière in Off-Madrid.

In 2012, Tilmun Theater celebrates its 20th Anniversary. In 2013, 32th University Theater Festival supported by El Corte Inglés and Madrid State. Tilmun Theater participates since it was born.

2013-2021 | Alberto Basas is Tilmun Theater new director. Actor, director, and instructor known for Libres (2013) TV series. A. Basas has staged Los figurantes (2014), Bon appetit (2015), Fuente ovejuna (disección de un clásico) (2016), Que el tiempo cura (y no es verdad) based on Federico García Lorca, Buero Vallejo Award for Young Theater in Madrid State (2017), Re (me quiero) vivir (2018), generaZión (2019).