“Civil Guard, out with the rifle!”: Vox protests against the premiere of the play “Altsasu” in Madrid | Culture

“Long live the Civil Guard! Murderous ETA! “Socialists, terrorists!” shouted a man in front of the Abadía Theater in Madrid. Civil Guard, get out your rifle,” others shouted. This Thursday, the right-wing extremist group Vox called for a protest rally in front of the doors of the theater to mark the premiere of the play Alsace, a production by the company La Dramatica Errante. About a hundred people were present. This is a documentary theater show about the so-called Alsasua case, in which eight young people were found guilty of attacking two Civil Guard officers and their partners in a bar in the Navarre town that gives the work its name. Some neighbors also gathered for a counter-demonstration: “No to censorship!” “Freedom of expression!” they shouted.

“I haven’t seen the play because it makes me very sick,” said Javier Ortega Smith, a city councilor and Vox spokesperson in the Madrid City Council. “This work glorifies terrorism, freedom of expression has its limits. The position of the People’s Party in the city council and in the community that finances this theater is unacceptable.” Some demonstrators meant exactly this sponsorship: “I help, not with my money!” or “Help, list, finance terrorists.”

Jordi Martí, Secretary of State for Culture, criticized the protest: “It is nonsense, another fight that Vox is waging, in some cases with the complicity of the PP, to bring back something that already seemed banished from our country.” like “It was censorship.” The Ministry of Culture, he explained, would not only denounce censorship, but also support artists who were subjected to this type of persecution. “Democracy doesn’t just mean voting every four years, but a space for public discussions in which all opinions fit and a dialogue takes place. “Art plays a fundamental role: it asks the most uncomfortable questions,” he added. On stage before the performance, playwright and academic Juan Mayorga, artistic director of La Abadía, spoke some emotional words: “Instead of talking, freedom is defended by practicing it.” Peace is not defended by talking, but by doing it practiced. “Today in this theater we will perform an act of peace and freedom.”

The Abbey Theater had taken action in response to the call for demonstrations: it emailed visitors the tickets to avoid crowds and asked them to come in advance. He also recommended reaching the theater via Galileo Street, since the protest was planned at the corner of Fernández de los Ríos and Vallehermoso streets. This Thursday, the demonstrators called together by the right-wing extremist formation began to gather before seven o’clock in the afternoon. In a statement, the theater positioned itself for freedom of expression and respect for all opinions, including “critical and dissenting” opinions. “The best response to requests for cancellation or censorship of a show is to raise the curtain so that everyone can freely go and judge what the stage offers them,” the text says.

The actor and director Lluís Homar, current director of the National Classical Theater Company, said at the entrance: “You can disagree, come or not come… Another thing is whether you like the subject more or less.” Furthermore, doubt I think they’ve seen the play.” “They probably haven’t seen it, so they seem to think there are concepts that can’t be touched. Unfortunately, they question the ABCs of what culture is. And we have already experienced many cases of censorship.” Homar wouldn’t see it AlsaceSino Morios, which is performed in the other room of the theater. But he assured that he had tickets for the next day.

Vox regional deputy Ana María Velasco said: “We have asked the Community of Madrid not to subsidize this work and to remove it from the program because we believe that it justifies the aggression of the Civil Guard in Alsasua and that all this is caused. “by the separatist hatred that the Civil Guard suffers in this city, where they have been attacked more than 30 times and live in a completely barracks house.” He admits that he has not seen the work, but that he has “talked to people who have seen it.”

Alsace It is ewritten and directed by María Goiricelaya from Bilbao and performed by Nagore González, Egoitz Sánchez, Aitor Borobia and Ane Pikaza. The work describes the events that occurred on October 15, 2016 in front of the doors of the Koxka bar, a violent confrontation involving several residents of the city as well as two vigilantes and their partners. The performance ended without incident, with a four-minute ovation, the audience standing, and Cecilia’s song. My dear Spainthat is, “This Spain of mine, this Spain of us.”

The production, which premiered in the Basque Country in 2021 and has since toured in more than 70 performances throughout Spain and also abroad, such as Montevideo, Medellín and Bogotá, focuses primarily on the trial, combining accurate transcripts of the trial with fictional dialogues about the personal relationships of the protagonists. The actors play both victims and attackers, defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges or family members and embody people of different and contradictory ideologies.

In none of the cinemas where it was shown Alsace There have been no problems since the premiere. In November 2021, the PP municipal group in the Vitoria City Council (then governed by the PNV) tried unsuccessfully to cancel the works. Last December, before its representation in Madrid, Vox demanded his withdrawal from the program of La Abadía, while the PP refused. Vox presented two questions to the Cultural Commission and the plenary session of the Community of Madrid, chaired by Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the main financier of La Abadía, which were rejected. He also called for theater funding to be canceled. The response from the Minister of Culture, Mariano de Paco, was: “The government of Madrid will always be on the side of the victims, but also always on the side of freedom of expression, creative freedom and the freedom of the public to decide what they do.” want. “Go see”.