THE EYES OF THE NIGHT Announced At Cervantes Theatre

Fulfilling their mission to showcase the best Spanish and Latin American plays in London, the Cervantes Theatre is delighted to announce the Autumn Season thanks to the support of Acción Cultural Española and Arts Council England. This new season showcases a full range of plays, all of them written by women.

The next full production is The Eyes of the Night by internationally renowned Spanish playwright Paloma Pedrero, translated by Catherine Boyle, directed by Simone Coxall and with a different cast for each version (Spanish and English) including two professional actors that are visually impaired for the role of Ángel in Spanish and in English.

The Eyes of the Night // Los Ojos de la Noche by Paloma Pedrero, translated by Catherine Boyle

After a successful dramatised reading last year as part of the Contemporary Spanish Playwriting Season I at the Cervantes Theatre, The Eyes of the Night, a play written by one of the most important playwrights of her generation, Paloma Pedrero, sees its UK premiere in September. The Eyes of the Night is a complex and beautiful play that reveals the deepest desires and fears of a middle age business woman who, with the help of a blind man, will need to experience the darkness in order to see the light.

Synopsis: Life is full of moments of change that can pop up at anytime. An unexpected encounter between a business woman, who supposedly has triumphed in life, and a blind man who she's just met and asked to spend a few hours in a hotel with her can be the trigger for a new life. Both will have to be able to open up and let themselves experience the darkness in order to see the light...

Paloma Pedrero - Playwright:

Paloma Pedrero is Spain's most represented female playwright of the 21st Century. With over 30 plays and having been translated into around twenty languages, she is one of the most widely recognised and studied Spanish playwrights.

Playwright, director and actress, Paloma also graduated in Sociology by the Complutense University of Madrid and became part of the Cachivache company after the reinstatement of the Madrid theatre following the death of Franco. Her first play, La llamada de Lauren opened in 1985.

Some of her most famous plays are: La llamada de Lauren, Resguardo personal, Besos de lobo, El color de agosto, Noches de amor efímero, Una estrella, Locas de amar, En el túnel un pájaro, Beso a beso, Caídos del cielo, Androide mío, Ana el once de marzo.

Her work has been translated and published in more than 20 languages. She has also premiered in the United States, Australia, France, Portugal, Germany, UK, Italy, Grece, Ghana, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Korea, India... and almost all Latin American Countries.

Paloma Pedrero has received many national and international awards. She is the first female playwright awarded at the Exhibition of Contemporary Spanish Playwrights in 2005. In July 2017, she was named 'World Theatre Ambassador' by UNESCO.

In 2009 she founded the charity 'Caídos del Cielo' through which she offers theatre workshops to homeless people or people at risk of exclusion.

Simone Coxall - Director:

Simone works as a Director and Movement Specialist in the UK, USA and Australia. Her most recent work is with Encounter Theatre as an Associate Director on their production The Kids Are Alright (The Place and The Albany) and as a Director of Shackleton and His Stowaway (Cervantes Theatre) with Stolen Elephant Theatre. in 2017 she directed Orlando: The Queer Element with Clay and Diamonds which toured National Trust properties in England. As an Associate Director at Fourth Monkey, she has directed The Tempest and Henry V among others. In 2013 she was Artistic Director of Central Saint Martin's Stages programme directing Orpheus and Eurydice at The Granary Building Kings Cross. She also works as a Globe Practise practitioner at Shakespeare's Globe.

Catherine Boyle - Translator:

Catherine Boyle is Professor of Latin American Studies and Head of Department at King's College London. Her academic work has led to a number of translations and theatre work, including the RSC for their Spanish Golden Age Season, for which she acted as academic consultant and translator of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz's Los empeños de una casa as House of Desires (2004). Catherine is Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Out of the Wings and in 2009, along with Sue Dunderdale and Karen Morash, Catherine created the Head for Heights Theatre Company, dedicated to the performance of theatre from cultural extremes and marginality.

English Cast:

Lanna Joffrey:

Lanna Joffrey is an actor, spoken-word performer and writer. Select theatre credits: The Time of Our Lies (Park Theatre), They Promised Her the Moon (Old Globe), Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens (Willow Globe, The Factory), Muse of Fire and Sonnet Walks (Shakespeare's Globe), A Thousand Splendid Suns (A.C.T, Old Globe & Seattle Rep), Cause (Vault Festival), The Profane (Playwrights Horizons), The Soulless Ones (Hammer House of Horror Live), I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre). Awards: NYFringe, IRNE and Ovation Award. Her critically acclaimed verbatim play of women's war stories,Valiant has traveled the U.K. and the U.S.-going to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Theatre503, JW3, Women and War Festival, WOW Folkestone Festival, NY Fringe and InterAct Theatre. Her spoken word and writing has been featured online and in print. Training: M.A. in Acting (Royal Central) and B.F.A. in Acting (Syracuse University)

Samuel Brewer:

Samuel Brewer is an actor and devisor currently in his final year at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, undertaking a BA (Hons) in Acting - Collaborative and Devised Theatre. He has performed and devised at the Adelaide festival, in addition to a number of independent and commercial roles (such as the RNIB's recent rebranding campaign) in Australia and the UK. At Central he has received the Nellie Watson Scholarship and the Sir John Gielgud Charitable Trust Bursary. Samuel is visually impaired.

Spanish Cast:

Leyre Berrocal:

Leyre Berrocal is an actress with a long career in film, TV and theatre of more than 20 years. Leyre has worked with Frances McDorman or Javier Bardem in films such as El Santa Isabel (Dir: Paula Cons), Fuego (Dir: Luis Marias), El Primer Ultimo Día (Dir: Javier Arriaga y Guillermo Llaguno), Cámera Obscura (Dir: Maru Solores), Un Mundo Casi Perfecto (Dir: Esteban Ibarretxe), Agua con Sal (Dir: Pedro Pérez Rosado), Cuestión de Suerte (Dir: Rafael Monleón), Calor...y Celos (Dir: Javier Rebollo), Extasis (Dir: Mariano Barroso) or Pasiones Rotas (Dir: Nick Hamm). Leyre has also worked in some of the most prominent TV series of Spain like La que se avecina, Centro Médico, El Precio de La Libertad, Un Chupete para Ella or Más que Amigos. Some of the plays she has worked on are Plano Secuencia and Vidas Pasadas by Ángel Mirou, La Boda de Betty Blue by David Barbero, Huésped by Iván Repila, Autobús a Ninguna Parte by Javi Arriaga

Josema Gómez:

Josema Gómez has been part of Orozú Teatro for more than 12 years. Orozú Teatro is a theatre company integrated by blind and visually impaired actors supported by ONCE and recipient of many awards.

Josema has toured all over Spain and has worked recently at Almagro International Classical Theatre Festival with Don Volpone an adaptation of Volpone by Ben Jonson. He has also worked on the following plays with Orozú Teatro: La Ciudad de los Errores, Duo Padrone, Sombras de Amor Prohibido, Bang El Vodevil, En Black, Así es la Vida and Lo Oscuro. Josema has also participated in the MAX awards in Spain and he is now developing a new and ambitious play that will open at the end of the year.