He was the first Spanish actor to win the Emmy for Best Actor and is now in Madrid. Oriol Pla, after winning this international award for the series Yo, adicto, arrives in Lavapiés to star in a play.
Gula/Gola is the story that can be seen from Wednesday to Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in the Francisco Nieva hall of the Valle-Inclán Theater. With a touch of humor, it deals with how we feel empty in a society plagued by stimuli, where consumption is ever-increasing and social media encourages us to consume more.
A critique of consumerism
The staging with a vending machine. | Editorial credit: Centro Dramático Nacional
With a minimalist staging, the weight of the play falls on the monologue by Oriol Pla, who created the work together with playwright Pau Matas Nogué. For them, gluttony represents the compulsive consumption of emotions and the symptom of a society that does not know how to stop it.
“Gluttony corrupts us. We avoid the feeling of emptiness by filling our mouths with pleasures and stimuli,” the authors themselves write about the play. On stage, they depict how the individual ends up collapsing and giving way to the beast and the jester.
As they explain, in this constant search for pleasure and happiness, “mental health deteriorates and it seems that it never hits rock bottom.” Physicality and clowning serve to show how the individual ends up submerged in madness, unable to escape from their own labyrinth.
The influence of the circus
Essays by Oriol Pla. | Editorial credit: National Drama Center
Accompanied by a single vending machine, Oriol Pla explores different languages such as voice, clowning, slapstick (based on exaggerated physical action), performance, and progression.
He displays his stage skills, which he began to cultivate at the age of 6 in the circus world, before the audience. Thus, he returns to his origins, when he devoted himself to street performances, mime, acrobatics, and dance.
After continuing his career in television and film, he returns to the theater with this play, where he demonstrates his great acting ability, which led him to win an Emmy in 2025.
Meeting with the audience
Gula/Gola creative team. | Editorial credit: National Drama Center
The play will run until February 15, 2026, and has a running time of approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. In addition, on Thursday, January 22, there will be a meeting with the artistic team, which will allow the audience to learn about the creative process.
Finally, in homage to the origins of its authors, on January 28 and 29, the performances of Gula/Gola will be in Catalan.