
Going to the theater is one of those plans that must be done in Madrid at least once in a lifetime: few cultural activities are as exciting as sitting in a velvety seat and waiting, with the eyes of a child, for the curtain to open and the show to begin. Each staging is unrepeatable, and that is its main charm.
The Teatro de La Abadía ( Fernández de los Ríos, 42), one of the most important centers of artistic exhibition in Spain, hosts one of the most promising performances of the season: Los yugoslavos, a play by Madrid playwright Juan Mayorga.
A story of two ordinary people
After gathering more than 76,000 spectators in the 2023-2024 season, La Abadía is betting on a metaphor for loneliness in big cities. Los yugoslavos begins in an ordinary bar. In this scenario, the bartender is amazed by the ability of one of his customers to lift his spirits. Then the bartender, instead of bringing him the bill, makes the man a most unexpected request: he asks him to talk to his wife.
Mayorga explains that the play is “about love, sadness, the power and impotence of the word” in the individualistic society in which we live. “Los yugoslavos began its journey because my grandfather had a bar, and every night he would come back telling stories he had just lived through with his customers,” he says.
Celebrated Asturian actor Javier Gutiérrez – he won the Goya for best lead actor for his work in La isla mínima ( 2014) and four years later for El autor ( 2018), as well as being nominated for his role in the hit comedy Campeones (2019) – plays the bartender, and Mayorga the customer. Both try to connect with the audience through simple realities, loaded with problems that every human being faces.
The play will run from May 22 to June 29. Tickets are already on sale at La Abadía’s website. A great opportunity to see Gutiérrez, one of the most important actors in our country, in action.