Silver Lion 2015
Venice Biennale
Silver Lion 2015
Venice Biennale
On August 3, 2015, Agrupación Señor Serrano’s work was awarded the Silver Lion for innovation in theatre of the Venice Biennale in a ceremony held at the Palazzo Ca’ Giustinian. We are very proud of the prize and we believe that it is not entirely undeserved. However, not everyone thinks the same. It is fair to bring here the voices of dissent:
“The only real disappointment of the festival was Agrupación Señor Serrano to which this year was awarded the Silver Lion for innovation in theatre (we can’t see the possible reason for that): smart asses and malicious they presented a show in which the chase of American Indians, the hunting of Moby Dick and the capture of Bin Laden were put on the same plane. On stage, some platforms, a series of scale models of Bin Laden’s house in Pakistan, plastic action figures and miniature planes: and a camera amplifying all this on a large screen, as we have already seen in many shows. Where was all this going? I don’t know, from an ideological and political point of view, unless they pretended to trivially show the interweaving of fiction and reality. How original!”
Anna Bandettini, La Repubblica (16/08/2015).
Premiered on 10.10.2020 at Festival International des Arts Bordeaux Métropole.
Production currently on tour.
The Mountain blends the first expedition to Mount Everest, which success is still uncertain today; Orson Welles sowing panic with his radio show The War of the Worlds; badminton players playing baseball; a fake news website; a drone scrutinizing the audience; lots of snow; mobile screens; fragmented images; and Vladimir Putin discoursing delighted on truth and trust.
There is a widely shared image that runs through the history of ideas: climbing a mountain, overcoming all the difficulties to reach its summit and once there, being able to see the world “as it is”. See the truth and not just shadows or reflections. It is a beautiful image indeed. But is it really so? Often, looking from the top down you can see nothing but clouds and fog covering everything or a landscape that changes depending on the time of day or the weather. What is that world like then? How is that truth? Is there the truth? Is it just a peak that must be crowned and that’s it, or rather a cold and inhospitable path that must be continually climbed? A network of ideas, stories, images, actions and concepts underpins The Mountain’s dramaturgical framework. With these materials, unfolded in layers that intermingle creating unexpected connections, the piece is presented as an exploration without a map on the myth of truth.
Creation: Agrupación Señor Serrano / Dramaturgy and direction: Àlex Serrano, Pau Palacios, Ferran Dordal / Performance: Anna Pérez Moya, Àlex Serrano, Pau Palacios, David Muñiz / Voice: Amelia Larkins / Music: Nico Roig / Video programming: David Muñiz / Video creation: Jordi Soler Quintana / Set design and scale models: Lola Belles, Àlex Serrano / Set design assistant: Mariona Signes / Costumes: Lola Belles / Light design: Cube.bz / Digital mask: Román Torre / Production director: Barbara Bloin / Producer: Paula Sáenz de Viteri / Technical director: David Muñiz / Management: Art Republic.
GREC Festival de Barcelona / Teatre Lliure / Conde Duque Centro de Cultura Contemporánea / CSS Teatro Stabile di Innovazione del Friuli – Venezia Giulia / Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale / Zona K / Monty Kultuurfaktorij / Grand Theatre / Feikes Huis.
Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat / Graner – Mercat de les Flors.
Drac d’Or to the best show, Fira de Teatre de Lleida 2021 (Spain).