MEDIATHEK

Zusammenschnitt von Fragmenten der Recherche-Phase: u.a. Februar 2002 - Montpellier (?); September 2002 - Choredrome, The Place, London,... "placing objects".

In Castilian “espontáneo” is both an adjective (meaning voluntary or spontaneous) and a noun – it designates a lunatic fringe of spectators at bullfights, untrained crazies who leap into the ring and try to steal the matadors’ thunder. The stars of La Ribot’s 40 Espontáneos, 2004, are also non-professionals, but they perform in a highly co-operative spirit. Commanding the stage for a full seventy minutes and laughing continuously as they work, they use recycled furniture, cardboard sheeting and a kaleidoscope of rainbow-coloured clothing and textiles to transform its appearance – and their own – several times over. At one point the stage is a vibrant abstract painting, at another a ramshackle favela. Resplendent in their ever-changing second-hand finery, the laughing espontáneos project an air of grandeur and exuberance.

40 Espontáneos was inspired by a bizarre image: a production photograph from Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus showing hundreds of fake-blood-spattered “rebel slaves” lying in a field, all playing dead – but at the same time, brandishing large numbered cards at the camera. No. 1 glares furiously over the top of his; No. 256 uses his as a sunscreen, and No. 19 lazily props his number against his head. The image distils a wonderful set of dichotomies – between individual expression and collectivity, accident and design, reality and fakery, action and inertia, and even life and death. These are the themes 40 Espontáneos explores.

Long in the making, resolutely collaborative and continuously evolving, 40 Espontáneos has been reinterpreted many times in cities in Europe and Latin America. A new cast of espontáneos goes to work each time. Most have day jobs, so rehearsals take place over a week in the evenings, and key to the process is learning how to laugh for an unfeasibly long time. With each new production, new ways are found to blur the distinction between audiences and performers, and co-producer Jacques Blanc has summarized 40 Espontáneos as the antithesis of “the fake dream of TV celebrity”. Rather, he says, it’s a genuine kind of “theatrical utopia… where spectators and performers merge into a single dream”.

/ PRODUCTION /

PREMIERE: April 21-23rd 2004 - Le Quartz, Brest, France
DURATION: 70min
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED: La Ribot
DIRECTION ASSISTANTS: Juan Domínguez, Corinne García and Tania Arias Winogradow
LIGHTING DESIGN: Daniel Demont
SET AND COSTUMES: Karine Vintache and La Ribot
COSTUMES - GIFTS BY: Paulette Dynalix, Virginie Le Gall, Véronique Gébly
PRODUCTION TEAM: Bibi Serafim, Jo Hughes
THANKS TO: Phillis François, Maïwenn Le Gall and all the staff at Le Quartz, Brest
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR ON TOUR: Erik Houllier
PRODUCTION OFFICE: Parano Fondation
MANAGEMENT: Maria Carmela Mini
Produced by La Ribot, 36 Gazelles, London
La Ribot is an Artsadmin associated artist
COPRODUCTION: Le Quartz de Brest, France (Creation/Residence); Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, France; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Festival d’Automne, Paris, France; La Bâtie - Festival de Genève, Switzerland.

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https://laribot.com/en/work/40-espontaneos/ [2025-04-16]