Plays in Madrid are once again one of the most refreshing cultural plans of the month this May. With temperatures on the rise, the stages heat up even more the dramatic scene in the capital and serve as a cultural refuge. On the billboard there is no shortage of reinterpretations of great classics, subversive novelties that break taboos, great love stories and, of course, there is always room for humor.
Madrid is, once again this season, a place of reference for theater lovers. Here are the 8 recommended plays for this May.
Tonight, a great evening!
The play¡Esta noche, gran velada! written by Fermín Cabal and directed by Pilar Valenciano, takes the spectator into the world of boxing, where Kid Peña must face a crucial decision: fight for the European title or rig the fight. The conscience of individual freedom confronts collective greed in this sports drama. The production features an outstanding cast, including Francisco Ortiz as Kid Peña.
🗓️ Dates: through May 25, 2025
📍 Location: Teatro Español (Plaza Santa Ana and Calle del Príncipe, 25)
Journey to the limit
From May 3 to June 8, 2025 the Teatro Español presents the world premiere of Viaje hasta el límite, an unpublished play by Luis Martín-Santos written in 1953 and recently found. Directed and adapted by Eduardo Vasco, the play is set in 1950s Spain and tells the story of Pedro, a wheelchair-bound businessman whose upper middle-class family is shaken by the arrival of a swindler who unleashes hidden passions and conflicts.
This existential drama addresses themes of freedom, moral decadence and the fragility of emotional bonds, with clear influences from Sartre, O’Neill and Shakespeare. The cast is led by Ernesto Arias, Lara Grube and Agus Ruiz, and the artistic team includes scenography by Carolina González, costumes by Lorenzo Caprile and lighting by Miguel Ángel Camacho.
🗓️ Dates: May 3 to June 8, 2025
📍 Location: Teatro Español (Santa Ana square with Príncipe street, 25)
WAH Madrid
WAH Madrid has established itself as the most powerful leisure event of the year from its headquarters at IFEMA. Therefore, the proposal returns with a new season. WAH continues to break attendance records thanks to a show that does not skimp on visual media and artistic talent and has become a musical and gastronomic experience of reference at European level.
Over the course of five hours, the spectator is immersed in a delirious journey through the history of music thanks to a portentous sequence of musical and stage numbers of every genre and color.
IFEMA (Avenida Partenón, 5)
Orlando
The play Orlando, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, is a fascinating exploration of identity and gender over the centuries. The story follows a young English nobleman who undergoes a gender change from male to female while living for over 300 years. Directed by Marta Pazos, this National Drama Center production combines theater, dance and music to reflect on the oppression of traditional gender roles.
🗓️ Dates: until June 8, 2025
📍Location: María Guerrero Theater (Tamayo y Baus Street, 4)
Goat
Asunción is an Asturian goat with a curious fear: she is afraid of sheep and heights, a serious problem when she is about to be thrown from the top of a bell tower. In the midst of this extreme situation, Asunción embarks on a journey through her memories, sharing with sincerity, humor and emotion the most intense moments of her life. Although 14 years for a goat is equivalent to little more than two human years, her existence has been intense to say the least.
The play is performed by Pelayo Rocal, written by Rebeca Serrada and Diego Zúñiga, and directed by Luis Tausía.
🗓️ Dates: every Wednesday in May and June
📍Location: Teatros Luchana (Luchana Street, 38)
Mothers
Mothers is a play in the key of desperate humor. It is about five women who are locked in a school waiting room and this isolation results in an improvised therapy, bringing out the lights and shadows of motherhood. In the words of the director, Elena Díaz: “Madres is an opening in the channel, an open cry, a target at the center of the equation.”
It is a story that gives voice to five very different women who experience motherhood from different angles, all of them very connected to their multiple concerns and ways of understanding life. Together, they will address very different points of view about motherhood, parenting methods, different family models, the so-called ‘maternal instinct’, feminism and machismo, sexuality, diversity, abortion, social and work pressure. The agility of the rhythm and the surreal and comic situations are the open channel to disembowel the entrails of their lives until transcending them.
📅 Dates: until June 2025
Location: Lara Theater (Corre. Baja de San Pablo, 15)
The mermaid in the fog
La sirena en la niebla tells the adventures of Fer, a famous rock singer in existential crisis, who gathers in a lighthouse a community of idealistic and imaginative people fleeing from routine and the mundane. In this refuge, Fer faces an internal conflict between reality and its consequences, to which Elvira, his manager, pushes him, while a mermaid drags him with her songs to fantasy, the sea and love. The play explores the escape from one’s own existence towards self-deception, showing the madness and illusions of his peculiar community, while Fer discovers the true story of his fellow travelers.
The play, written and directed by Andrés Viedma, features a cast headed by David Arroyo (Fer/Ulises), Elena Jurado (Sacerdotisa) and Lucía Mos (Púa), among others.
🗓️ Dates: May 10th, 23rd and 24th.
📍Location: Calle Ercilla, 29 (Embajadores)
La casa de muñecas (The Doll’s House)
The Fernán Gómez Theater. Centro Cultural de la Villa presents a renewed version of A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen’s classic, adapted by Eduardo Galán and directed by Lautaro Perotti. The play transfers the essential conflicts of the original text to today’s society, exploring themes such as gender inequality, social pressure and the struggle for personal independence in a contemporary context.
The story is set in 2024 Oslo and follows Nora Helmer, played by María León, who leads a seemingly ideal life with her husband Osvaldo Helmer. However, hidden tensions and the return of a friend from the past will test their relationship and lead her to make a crucial decision: to leave home to find herself.
📅 Dates: May 16 – June 22
Location: Fernan Gómez Theater (Plaza de Colón, 4)