Current Repertory
Perpetual peace
by Juan Mayorga
Perpetual peace
by Juan Mayorga
Premiere: 03.12.2022
Duration: 1 h 30 min / Pause: No
Production by the Ion Sava Centre for Creation and Research within the 9G program at TNB.
Three dogs are in the running to win the most desired prize - admission to an elite anti-terrorist unit. Three distinct personalities, with only seemingly similar sets of values and ambitions, reveal themselves over the course of the successive trials the three undergo, sparking an intense, life-and-death debate about power, sacrifice and the moral pitfalls of fighting terrorism.
Referring to the famous political essay by the philosopher Immanuel Kant, whose title it borrows, Perpetual Peace becomes an occasion to reflect on the unresolvable ethical dilemmas of human thought and action - does any means justify the end, is the life of a single man quantifiable? and, above all, where does prevention and security end and abuse begin? Without offering a clear-cut answer, Juan Mayorga invites the audience to examine their own conscience.
"Through physical and psychological tests, to which the three competing dogs are subjected, Perpetual Peace proposes a debate on ethical dilemmas in today's political and social life. It is a shocking metaphor for our world under the absurd threat of terrorism, a text that features animals as protagonists but is deeply rooted in the psychology of human nature." (Alejandro Durán, director)
Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga is one of the most powerful and relevant voices of contemporary theatre. Winner of numerous awards - the Princess of Asturias Literary Award (2022), the Valle-Inclán Award (2009), the National Theatre Award (2007), the Max Award for Best Playwright (2006, 2008, 2009); he has taught drama and philosophy at the Royal School of Dramatic Art (Madrid); he is currently head of the Masters in Theatre Creation at Carlos III University in Madrid.
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
Foto Florin Ghioca
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"The play staged by the young Colombian director Alejandro Durán, a graduate of U.N.A.T.C., is a metaphor of the individual's incessant struggle to find his place and role in the world. And of the enormous responsibility for one's own actions, which can have incalculable consequences for others.
In a gloomy, metallic, grey atmosphere, in a maximum security space, solidly provided by the scenography of Delia Ghizdăveț (... ) Durán exploits to the maximum the double standard by which the moral is weighed (from the human and the canine perspective), this duality ensuring an assumed lucidity, with which he meticulously builds each scene, cleverly moving them between glacial, rigor, sensitivity and humor, in different doses, ensuring an eminently masculine air to the atmosphere that so much needs this imprint to convey and place in the right place the philosophical ideas with which he parades."
Luciana Antofi, Blog - Only a dog's heart can still distinguish nowadays between right and wrong...
"In a performance market full of exuberant or visually-sexy forms but often without much substance, Alejandro Duran's direction is an example of theatre that puts the substance and ideas of the author at the forefront, in a sober but never boring form. The pace is sustained, the construction millimetric and the acting convincing.
Perpetual Peace is therefore, contrary to its title, a lively, ideas-based performance for young people, presenting three possible approaches to life, with the strengths and weaknesses of each. Playwright Juan Mayorga broadens the audience's intellectual horizon in a formula both accessible and original, and young director Alejandro Duran, a graduate of UNATC, Bucharest, is a talented theatre maker worth encouraging and watching."
Alexandra Ares, Revista Rinocerul - “Perpetual peace” or the ephemeral struggles of life
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
