GIORNATE D’AUTORE

FOCUS MARÍA VELASCO

Conversation between the author and Florian Borchmeyer

Reading from Talaré a los hombres de la faz de la tierra
directed by Matteo Tarasco
with Luchino Giordana, Stefano Guerrieri, Irene Paloma Jona, Laura Mazzi, Salvo Pappalardo

translated by Claudia De Medio

TEATRO DUE – Shakespeare 1

31st OCTOBER, 6 pm

A preteen girl wanders away from her family during a barbecue to read under a tree. This gesture marks the beginning of a rite of passage and the ordeal of a millennial woman, youngest daughter, doctoral student, and sex worker. Talaré a los hombres de sobre la faz de la tierra, winner of the 2022 Max Award for best theatrical text, links emotional and sexual violence with environmental violence, comparing the “exploitation of the resources of the unconscious and subjectivity, language, desire, imagination, and affection” (Suely Rolnik) to the exploitation of natural resources.

The work addresses the theme of failed sexual and emotional education and the experiences that follow in the shadow of taboo. The protagonist of this story is a little girl who laughs, cries, and menstruates (the crying of the endometrium) on her way to magical thinking, which she sees as allies in deer and trees. Entering the forest, searching. Eating from the tree of heresy. Embracing it. Personal experience is transcended through dialogue with feminism and ecology: two great collective and salvific narratives opposed to catastrophic premonitions.

They said: God is dead, Man is dead… Is Nature dead? Can ecological thinking be applied to human relationships, including sexual ones?

The text is part of the cycle La familia (or la familia?), a proposal to reflect on the concept of family from different perspectives: imaginaries, relationships, vulnerabilities, social structures, the world of work, the senses, emotions…

Writer, playwright and stage director, winner of the 2024 National Prize for Dramatic Literature. Her texts have been translated into eight languages. The compilations Parte de Lesiones and Los muertos no respetan el descanso (published by La Uña Rota) bring together her most significant works. Recently, she has written and directed Talaré a los hombres de sobre la faz de la tierra (I Will Cut Down Men from the Face of the Earth) (Heidelberger Stückemarkt International Prize and Max Prize for Best Author 2022); Amadora, in collaboration with the singer Tulsa (Autumn Festival 2023); Primera Sangre (National Drama Centre and National Theatre of Catalonia 2024) and Vendrán los alienígenas y tendrán tus ojos (Nave 10 del Matadero Madrid 2025), Godot Award for Best Author 2025. Her experience is broadened by her work in dance and interdisciplinary dramaturgy. In this field, she has collaborated with the Spanish-Italian company Kor’sia and the Catalan company Les Impuxibles. She holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and a Master’s degree in Performing Arts and Visual Culture.