“At sunset, after a couple of lovers argue loudly on the beach of Gulpiyuri, a romantic ghost called Analphabet appears over the sea to narrate its story and sing songs to the couple.”
Analphabet is the invention of a myth: that of a romantic spirit that manifests itself to couples in natural environments and that lives trapped in the wound of the flesh. Its appearance reveals the ravine we call “couple” and the violence to which we subject ourselves to remain within this amatory structure. Its personal history opens up the box of intra-gender violence and exposes the need for extreme care in queer relationships, which are also marked by a patriarchal legacy. This tormented spirit feeds on romantic German poetry and its landscapes (Goethe, Hölderlin or Novalis accompanied the writing), but it also draws on Andalusian idiosyncrasy and the mortal wound of a love in Euskadi. Although the ghost arrives on horseback, dying and wounded, it comes bearing a hope that can be found in poetry, the only thing capable of healing the wound.
Alberto Cortés (1983) directs, writes and performs his own creations. He graduated in Stage Direction and Dramaturgy from ESAD in Malaga and in Art History from UMA. In 2009, he began his theatrical career, creating a hybrid and peripheral theatre form which continues to develop over time. Seeking to hold on to hope within the intangible, the spiritual and the human, Cortés’ work has evolved over the years across a variety of formats and disciplines (theatre, dance, performance, folklore and flamenco). His works present the stage as a space for romantic desire and relationship with the audience. Alberto Cortés also accompanies the processes of fellow artists, collaborating with staging and dramaturgy. Alongside his theatre work, he holds workshops in the form of meetings during which he shares his research. In 2022, he published Los montes son tuyos, which collects the texts of his plays El Ardor and One night at the golden bar. In 2024, he published the book Siempre vengo de noche, which contains the text of Analphabet.
concept, dramaturgy, text, direction, and performance Alberto Cortés
violin and conversations Luz Prado
light design Benito Jiménez
light technicians Benito Jiménez, Cristina Bolívar
sound Oscar Villegas
technical coordination Cristina Bolívar
piano recordings César Barco
stage design Víctor Colmenero
costumes Gloria Trenado
outside eye Mónica Valenciano
photography Alejandra Amere
video Johann Pérez Viera
production El Mandaíto Producciones SL
co-productions TNT Terrassa Noves Tendències, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque, FITEI – Festival Internacional de Teatro de Expressão Ibérica, Centre de les Arts Lliures della Fundació Joan Brossa, and Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Cádiz
with the collaboration of Azala, Graner, Goethe-Institut Madrid, Escena Patrimonio, Festival de Otoño, Programa de Residencias Artísticas dell’Agenzia Andaluza de Instituciones Culturales e Ayuntamiento de La Rinconada
with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
the project is partly supported by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), ente pubblico statale
and with the support of Real Academia de España en Roma
ph. Alejandra-Amere