The energy of this rhymed comedy, with delicate ingenuity and apt metaphor, will surely sweep you off your feet. Who are and who are not fools? Is the whole world an insane asylum or vice versa? Can normal people safely hide only in a real insane asylum? And did you know that Valencia had one of the first mental institutions in Europe in the 17th century? Perhaps Lope de Vega was inspired by this fact when he wrote a play in which Floriano and Erifila hide in an asylum with the help of various people – he from punishment for alleged murder, she from forced marriage –. They take on a different identities, and the carousel of misunderstandings, tangled love affairs and explosive passions, spying and snitching can take off. The methods of healing in the institution can sometimes only be sung and danced to the rhythm of a riveting flamenco because the words spoken as a testimony to hidden intrigues and deranged relationships are no longer enough.

 

 

Première June 8, 2024