Rigola Merges 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with Andy Warhol and Senior Love

Acclaimed theater director Àlex Rigola brings a radical reimagining of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to Barcelona's Grec Festival, transplanting the action from Athens's magical forest to Andy Warhol's iconic 1960s New York Factory. This intimate production, staged in a small 72-seat venue in the Sants-Badal neighborhood, transforms the legendary studio into a space of artistic chaos, hallucinogenic parties, and unexpected encounters.

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Putting the characters of the lovers as fugitives from a senior residence because they are not allowed to have sex, and having senior actors play them, has been wonderful.

The play's fairies and sprites, including Oberon, Titania, and Puck, are reimagined as denizens of Warhol's Factory. The cast features actors portraying Warhol himself (Lluís Villanueva), his lover Billy Name (Biel Duran), muse Edie Sedgwick (Elisabet Casanovas), and assistant Gerard Malanga (David Menéndez Boye). The artisans tasked with preparing the wedding festivities in Athens are depicted as members of the Velvet Underground, with actors embodying Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison.

Adding a unique twist, Rigola, channeling a mischievous Puck, transforms the young lovers fleeing into the woods into elderly couples escaping a retirement home to consummate their love. This casting choice, a departure from his 2014 Dusseldorf production with teenage actors, is one Rigola now prefers. "Putting the characters of the lovers as fugitives from a senior residence because they are not allowed to have sex, and having senior actors play them, has been wonderful," Rigola explained at the show's presentation.

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The story has gained enormous strength that it did not have with young people. The words and verses are the same, but they have more density and fly even higher.

Rigola believes this adaptation imbues the classic story with profound new meaning. "The story has gained enormous strength that it did not have with young people," he stated. "The words and verses are the same, but they have more density and fly even higher." He elaborated, "In reality, older people don't know more than teenagers about love, but we have scars." The production, running from June 30 to July 31, has already sold out all its tickets, underscoring the significant anticipation for Rigola's innovative take on the Shakespearean classic.

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In reality, older people don't know more than teenagers about love, but we have scars.