Brief Review of the Play “The Public” by Federico Garcia Lorca

First of all, I want to make it clear that I am not a theater critic and that in this brief review I only want to tell you about my experience.

We have to start from the premise that El Público (The Public or The Audience) is one of Federico García Lorca’s most difficult plays to perform, in fact he thought it would never be able to be staged, and that it is part of Lorca’s so-called “impossible theater”, along with “, So Five Years Go By”( Y así que pasen cinco años) and “The Untitled Comedy, (La comedia sin título)” which some also know as “The Dream of Life.(El sueño de la vida)”

Before going to see Juan Roca’s creation and version for the first time in my life on stage on last November 25, I read the play again for the third time in my life to be sharper.

To be honest, it was nothing that I subconsciously expected, Roca’s creation surprised me a lot.

I am not going to judge or criticize whether there were achievements or not, since I have engraved in my mind what a professor of theater direction told us when I was studying theater; “The written play is one thing and the performances are another thing, each director has the freedom to create as he pleases, and if you think it should be another way, direct another staging of the same work.”

When I say I was surprised, I mean I was surprised in a good way. There were many very difficult scenes to achieve that Roca solved with a lot of creativity. I congratulate the actors who with so much dedication and effort wove the scenes and recited their texts, which are particularly difficult in this play, giving meaning to this collection of surrealist theater scenes.

That said, it is understood that it is not a show that attracts the majority of the public, since we are not talking about a comedy or drama to which we are accustomed to the theater billboards of most cities, especially if making money is treats.

For all this and for everything that comes with putting on stage a work of this caliber, I applaud and consider Juan Roca and the cast of Havanafama actors, not only in this play, but in previous works, such as “Divinas Palabras”, by which I didn’t do a review.

What did bother me, a lot, was the public. And I’m not referring to the play, but to the audience that attended, at least the audience that night. Although I have previously seen this behavior several times in Miami audiences.

What do I mean?

For starters, time arrival. Arriving at the exact time the play begins is arriving late.

When they open the house, that is, when they give permission to enter the place where the audience sits to watch the performance, whether it’s in a traditional or modern theater where the audience may be surrounding the stage. This space is not a recreational space where one can chat loudly with the friends as if this were a cafeteria. That’s what the entrance hall, foyer, or whatever you want to call it, or the street is for. Not to mention those who talk to someone at the other end of the room and everyone has to listen to what they say!

Although before the performance began, a recording alerted us to put our cell phones on silent, it seems that many were so entertained by their talks that they did not listen to it.

There were even people who took calls in full function and if they did not speak, they sent text, or checked their social networks, which is very annoying since the light from the screens, no matter how low the brightness is, in the darkness typical of a presentation in progress, the light from the cell phone screen turns out to be intense.

In almost all the advice on theater etiquette that I found on the internet, both in English and Spanish, they advise turning off your cell phone or leaving it on airplane mode, not on vibrate since that sound is also annoying.

The recording about silencing the phones also alerted us that taking photos and/or videos with flash was prohibited.

Guess what happened! The guy next to me, when his friend came on stage, took a photo,… with a flash!!! He forgot!!! And he upset the entire audience!

Eating should also be not allowed. Do that before going to the theater.

Not to mention those who go to the theater with babies!

In general, unless it is a child old enough to enjoy a play, or it is a children’s play, children are logically going to get tired, even more so if it is a baby who is going to cry at the first moment there is a roar or the volume of the music or the actors suddenly bursts loudly.

In a somewhat controversial scene, two individuals apparently got upset, got up and left. Which I was very grateful for because they were the ones who kept talking and commenting among themselves, but please, if you have to leave, wait for a moment of blackout, silence or pause in the show.

I repeat, I know that it is a difficult play to understand and appreciate, but I think that at least, out of politeness or respect for the artists and the other members of the audience, the audience should behave better, and if they do not know the rules of

etiquette for behaving in a theater, there are many sources of information on the Internet, even with videos.

For those of us who love and respect theater, this is as important as for sports lovers, watching a game without being disturbed.

And I’m ending by quoting Federico Garcia Lorca himself;

“Theatre is one of the most expressive and useful instruments for the construction of a country and the barometer that marks its greatness or its decline.

A sensitive and well-oriented theater in all its branches, from tragedy to vaudeville, can change the sensitivity of the people in a few years; and a destroyed theater, where hooves replace wings, can dull and lull an entire nation.”

~ Federico García Lorca.