The breaking of boundaries in microtheatre

Abstract

Microtheatre is a theatre reality that started off in 2009. It was initiated by the Spanish theatre maker Miguel Alcantud, as a project carried out in an abandoned brothel situated in one of the Gran Via’s side streets. The Gran Via is a very important main street in the centre of Madrid. It is a place of glamour, ostentation, and money, the home to a number of Western conventional and mainstream as well as expensive theatres such as the Teatro Compac (See Figure 1.7), the Teatro Rialto, and the Teatro Lope de Vega. (My use of the word ‘conventional’ will be addressed later on in this introduction.) These theatres are situated near each other, only separated by a few expensive shops. They tend to offer the same kind of theatre entertainment based on musicals such as The Lion King or Les Misérables. Their close proximity and similar repertoires lead to a marked competition. This sense of competition is manifested in the way the theatres decorate their entrances, where every theatre always tries to be flashier than the previous one. On the other hand, the side streets of the Gran Via are far removed from the grandeur of the mainstream. Up until a few years ago, these side streets were known as a socially deprived area, a hub for prostitution, drug trafficking, and crime. Due to the worrying state these side streets were in, authorities started a programme of rehabilitation and in the past five years or so, alternative artistic activity was encouraged. However, even though the alternative art scene has nowadays started to blossom, social deviance has still not been completely eradicated from this area. Alcantud’s project on one of these side streets aided this rehabilitation process.