Long live the emperor!
The choice of fragments from 'Memoirs of Hadrian' is very appropriate, perhaps more necessary than ever, in times of this universal anger that surrounds us.
Animula, vagula, blandula/ Hospes comesque corporeal/Quae nunc abibis in loca/Pallid, rigid, nudula,Neco, ut solas, dabis yocos… Thus begins the funeral poem written by the Emperor Hadrian, which inspired Marguerite Yourcenar for her Memoirs, as a hypothetical farewell letter he writes to his young successor, Marc Aureli. A piece that was, at the time, essential and delightful reading. Years later, none other than Maurizio Scaparro brought them to the stage in an adaptation by Jean Launay, starring Giorgio Albertazzi, which we saw at Madrid's Teatro Albéniz. The director himself revived it in Spanish, starring José Sancho, with whom he toured much of the Iberian Peninsula.
Lluís Homar, under the direction of Beatriz Jaén and with Brenda Escobedo as his co-star, brings to life the Roman emperor, who was born in Seville, just before his death. This hour-and-a-half monologue is a veritable marathon in which the actor displays, once again, a vast array of his many proven talents, technique, and skill. Beyond this august performance, the choice of excerpts—though any other from Yourcenar's text could have been included—is particularly fitting, perhaps more necessary than ever in these times of the universal anger that surrounds us. Beatriz Jaén has incorporated five dancers to accompany the protagonist and add some dynamism to the production. These dancers, at times, become his entourage, and at others, a television crew recording the imperial message. An epistle in which he traces his life, from the path he had to travel to achieve power—not without leaving some victims in his wake, a journey filled with light and shadow—to his final days, suspicious of those around him for fear of being poisoned. Of course, his relationship with Antinous, played by the dancer Álvaro Nahuel, is also present. A moment of immense power and subtlety.
The Teatro Principal in Ciudad and the Manacor Auditorium were completely sold out, and the farewell was truly memorable, as it should be, the kind that won't be forgotten. Long live Emperor Homar!