Putin before the International Criminal Court of Girona

"I hate Putin." So says Margarita, a Ukrainian girl kidnapped from her home and given to a Russian family. An irrefutable condemnation that refutes the false narrative of Russian propaganda. And a war crime according to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which in 2023 issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president... and which becomes a reality in Margarita's mind in the play. The Hague (The Hague) by the Ukrainian playwright based in Barcelona, Sasha Denisova, which has been programmed at the Municipal Theatre of Girona within the High Season festival.

The Hague It's a theatrical fantasy that brings Vladimir Putin and his henchmen, who have lost the war, before a tribunal. The show mixes military profiles and the fabricated motivations for the invasion of Ukraine with essentially true accounts of the atrocities committed under orders. However, there will be no condemnation in this political fiction, which loosely combines diverse theatrical forms, from farce (not particularly elaborate) to comedy, prioritizing narrative over emotion. Ultimately, the driving idea of the production, well served by a cast of fifteen performers from the Bulgarian National Theatre, is (alas!) Putin's sole culpability in all of this and yet another condemnation of the Russian people.

Christoph Marthaler's world is not of this world, as seen at the Salt Canal, also as part of the Temporada Alta festival. It is not of this world, even though it may seem so. A seemingly normal world, but one outside of logic, where events unfold as one surprise after another. A world inhabited by figures, human puppets. A very endearing absurdity. And melancholically comic. Minimalist humor of knowing smiles. Nothing much ever happens, but many small things do that speak to us. Humor and music unite.

The Swiss creator often encloses his creatures in singular spaces. In He submits It brings together six characters in a high mountain refuge in Tyrol. A stage set made entirely of wood, seemingly realistic, with beds, a bench, a table... but presided over by a rocky peak. A dumbwaiter serves as an elevator for the hikers to arrive. SommetOf course, it also means summit. The guests speak different languages: Italian, English, German, French. They don't seem like it, but perhaps they are representatives of their respective countries. They are, obviously, different, but they have something in common. Have they reached the top or are they still trying to reach the summit? They are together, but do they understand each other? They test it with a musical score of yes, oui and alreadyOr they sing a children's song. A helicopter drops off clean clothes. Party clothes. And they put them on. The how is as important as the what. Or maybe not. All we can do is watch them. And smile with them.