«The theater seems to be always in crisis, but it is the only thing that survives»

2023-05-23 00:33:42

From acting on stage to teaching others to do it. The actress Cristina Castaño (Villalba, Lugo, 44 ​​years old) is one of the mentors of ‘A este paso (no) premièremos’, the entertainment and cultural dissemination program of La 2 in which thirty celebrities with the potential to act face a theatrical experience where they will have to make texts of the great classics of Spanish theater their own. In this Wednesday’s episode, which is broadcast by the second channel of TVE at 11:00 p.m., the former gymnast Lourdes Mohedano, the former water polo player Pedro García Aguado and the chef Gonzalo D’Ambrosio will perform ‘La venganza de Don Mendo’.

-What have you discovered as a mentor to the famous trainees of this program?

-It has been a surprise, because you have to play many roles within the program: both teacher and partner and director, and then play ten different characters, learn ten works and be able to explain them. We have worked, for example, on ‘Life is a dream’, which has an important philosophical background. It has been quite a challenge and a very beautiful job for me. Your soul fills when you work with great classical authors because, despite the fact that they are works that have been written centuries ago, they are current and continue to be performed. It has been a great wealth in that sense.

celebrities in class

«I have not lost patience with the students. I have stood firm when it has touched »

-What did the famous say to you at your command?

-Many guests asked: “If we make a mistake, we start over, right?” But it is about living the theatrical experience. If you stay blank, you go out and nothing happens, because in the theater that happens and as long as the public doesn’t know about it, everything is fine. The problem is standing still unresolved. If that happens, life passes you by. We are going to see the secrets that happen behind the scenes and that the public will be able to know thanks to this program.

Have you lost patience with the students?

-I have not lost patience as such. I have stood firm when he has played, not from any bad place, because that never corresponds, neither in life nor in the theater. With Adriana Abenia, for example, who is a very smiling and cheerful person, there was a point of asking her to be serious because she had to set the scene and we did not arrive. I have also had to be very firm with many in order for them to learn the text. With Eduardo Navarrete you had to be patient, but also understand the place where the other is. He is not an actor, however, he is very fluent and salty on stage in front of the audience and the camera. He appreciated his willingness. Other guests have come more angry. They think it is very easy, but then it is not so simple.

-Have you seen your first times in the theater reflected with these celebrities who had never set foot on a stage?

-I have not had that feeling, because I know that at some point they come to live a theatrical experience, but they are not going to start a professional career. I have seen few guests who really have a concern or interest in dedicating themselves to this.

-Being on La 2 makes you relax more with the audience?

-It’s a treat. There is a relaxation with the audience. Of course you want it to reach as many viewers as possible, that’s also our job. It is appreciated that in La 2 there is not this audience requirement and that you can work comfortably in that sense, with the values ​​that a public channel seeks. My job hasn’t been to entertain the public at home, but to make them understand ‘Bohemian Lights’. And this has been one of the few times in which I present a project that I am one hundred percent very proud of. It’s been a nice thing to do because there hasn’t been a ‘share’ requirement.

-How do you see the situation of theater in Spain?

-The theater seems to be always in crisis, but it is the only thing that survives. And more in times of crisis. It will never die. Now, I think that on the part of the Government there must be support for the culture of their country. We are not an example in that sense. In the theater we are survivors. It is necessary, because the theater will always be in the streets, it will have people who want to tell their stories and it will have an audience that needs to listen to them and see themselves reflected. In this program, for example, we are going to show works from the 16th century that continue to teach us. And that is important for young people to see. Teachers have written to me to tell me that they would put it in schools.