Pol López searches for McDonagh’s lost hand
Villarroel debuts the handof Martin McDonaghan unfiltered black comedy that combines macabre humor, tension and social satire. Directed by Pau Carrió and starring Paul Lopez, Albert Prat, Mia Sala-Patau i Soribah Ceesaythe piece delves into a delirious and brutal story about a man obsessed with finding the hand he lost nearly thirty years ago.
A story of violence and dark humor
The play, originally opened on Broadway in 2010 under the title In Behanding in Spokanesets the action in a seedy hotel in the United States. there, Carmichael (played by López) meets a couple of third-rate traffickers who claim to have the hand that was cut off. What begins as an exchange ends up becoming an explosion of absurdity, violence and dark humor, with the appearance of the receptionist who upsets everything.
For the director Pau Carrió, McDonagh is “an extraordinary author, almost a genre in himself. He has such a forceful personality that it is difficult to compare him with anyone”, and he adds: “It is a very exciting work, with fast-paced action and a tension that never subsides”. The director also points out that the characters “are racist, homophobic and violent, but at the same time endearing: the author portrays them without filters, and laughs at them, but also loves them. He does not seek provocation per se, but to portray a reality that exists and is of extraordinary theatricality”.
“McDonagh reaches the limit of what is interpretable”
Paul Lopezwhich he had already performed The skull of Connemara of the same author, describes McDonagh as “a playwright who reaches the limit of the code, of verisimilitude, of the absurd, even of what is interpretable”. The actor defines the piece as “a kind of Halloween special, with a mixture of macabre humor and characters who seem to have come out of a comic strip”.
Regarding the moral background of the play, the leading actor adds: “The characters are hateful, but McDonagh doesn’t even think about it; he puts the theatrical game ahead. The audience will laugh with them, but also at them. It’s a wild portrait, but always from the point of view of comedy.” The cast is completed with Albert Prat, who plays the grum or receptionist of the hotel and with Mia Sala-Patau and Soribah Ceesay, who debuts with this production.
McDonagh and La Villarroel, a consolidated relationship
the hand is the third play by McDonagh that La Villarroel brings to the stage, after Leenane’s beauty queen (1998) and The skull of Connemara (2017 and 2018). The playwright, also recognized as a screenwriter and film director – awarded with the Oscar for the short Six Shooter and nominated for films like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri or The Banshees of Inisherin—, is one of the most represented authors in the world.
More information, images and tickets:
