Anyone who gets bored this weekend in Madrid will only be doing so by choice: there’s the Transhumance festival, the balloon festival, and, of course, free theater. Lavapiés will once again become an open-air stage this Saturday, October 24. The Jamming theater company, which has drawn more than three million spectators throughout its history, will return to the neighborhood where it all began to offer a free improvisational performance in Nelson Mandela Square.
The event will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., is open to the general public, and is part of an initiative organized in collaboration with the Lavapiés Merchants Association. For one hour, attendees will be able to participate in the creation of a show with no script, where stories are made up on the spot.
A show where the audience decides what happens
What makes Jamming unique is that none of its performances are ever repeated. The actors build scenes based on suggestions from the audience, who can propose characters, situations, or film and theater genres.
In this way, the audience participates directly in what happens on stage, and the performers must improvise stories in real time. The outcome depends both on the actors and on the ideas that emerge from the audience.
More than 20 years later, Jamming returns to Lavapiés
This return holds special significance for the troupe, founded by Juanma Díez, Lolo Diego, and Paula Galimberti. They took their first steps at the TIS theater in Lavapiés before establishing themselves as one of Madrid’s best-known improv groups.
With more than 20 consecutive seasons on stage and performances in over 30 Spanish cities, Jamming has been based at the Teatro Maravillas since 2015. Guests such as Fernando Tejero, Chenoa, and José Corbacho have appeared in their shows.