Fernando Cayo returns to his city to get on the stage of the Calderón playing the role of Tristán, a successful man in his profession but with many other shortcomings in his life, who also has to survive his ‘exemplary’ brother-in-law. It is the ‘almond’ of ‘El peliro de las Buenas Compañías’, a comedy with “laughs” but at the same time “with a lot of substance” written by the philosopher and playwright Javier Gomá in which the Valladolid performer shares the stage with Carmen Conesa , Ernesto Arias and Miriam Montilla.
‘The danger of good companies’ arrives at the Calderón after its premiere a couple of months ago in Madrid. How do you think editing has matured?
The fact that it is a comedy that has already passed through the public and that is contrasted, especially when it is a production as special as this one, with certain philosophical overtones, makes everything much more greased.
The mechanism is more perfected and the truth is that we are very happy; and not only because of the time in Madrid, but because of the success it has brought about in our first place on tour, which was Malaga. At this moment in which people have had such a bad time, being able to put on a show that also has some overtones that at times border on cabaret, clown… I think it is needed. This kind of entertainment with brightness and good energy is needed.
He participates again in a montage written by Javier Gomá after doing it in ‘Inconsolable’. What do you find in the philosopher’s work as a playwright that has encouraged you to continue working with him?
I think there is a mutual understanding. When I worked with him on ‘Inconsolable’, as it was a very autobiographical montage, we talked many times and for a long time about different aspects and, apart from the admiration after reading all his works, that deep understanding was born and the fact of continuing to want to work together. Then, in addition, there is another thing. Javier Gomá has a very particular way of writing. He uses a very high language but if you say it in the right way, it reaches the viewer very easily and accurately. I love that pedagogical eagerness that he has when writing, because I think it’s one of the functions of theater. We have to amuse, entertain and excite, but also contribute something. Any work in which I am, I like that it always has a pedagogical element.
What about Tristán, his character in ‘The danger of good company’.
He is a very successful guy in his profession, but with many shortcomings in the rest of his life, and he has his brother-in-law by his side, who is a perfect gift of life and this makes him very unhappy because the comparison with him leaves him very badly stopped This, moreover, he takes fatally and manages it very badly, in a very bizarre and pilgrim way. There is the almond of the function. And the beautiful thing is that the public identifies with him a lot, because they could have chosen to hate this guy, but he is the representation of the average human who makes many mistakes, and so people identify a lot with this profile of characters.
And as a counterpoint Félix, the exemplary… There are also many who strive to appear to be at any cost.
Two things must be differentiated. One is to be the true example, which normally those who are not do not make an exhibition of it. And on the other hand, there is what we live now, much through social networks, a certain frivolity of our behavior and the fact of having to show others that one is the coolest, the nicest, the one who travels the most. .. When you get into social networks they are full of people like that: the best mothers and fathers, those who educate their children the best, the coolest in everything… And that’s a lie. We all have a part where we fail and that is being human.
The last time he was on stage at the Calderón he did it with a monologue, ‘For all the Gods!’ How do you enjoy more on stage or do you think you get more performance as an actor, alone or in a team?
I like to combine. Working on a monologue is a very lonely job, although I’m not really alone on stage, I always bring a musician and then work with the technicians and there is a very direct link with the audience. It happens in this show too. There is no fourth wall, we are with the viewers directly because it has a very cabaret, clown touch… The monologue is a very intense experience, being so focused on what you are doing brings you closer to trance and it is interesting, but this show also requires a ‘pin pon’ between the performers and I like that a lot, that feeling of passing the ball to each other, of group connection, is very nice.
That first laugh from the public, is it still nervously awaited?
Well, as we have been in Madrid for almost two months, it has given time for it to mature. Apart from the fact that one of the advantages of working with Juan Carlos Rubio is that you arrive at the premieres very prepared and calm. Practically the last 15 days you are already making general passes… But in any case it is always blessed glory and a full satisfaction to listen to the laughter of the people again. It is very comforting!
With what pleasure would you like the public to come out of this montage, totally disconnected or ruminating on what they have seen…
With a set of both. They are going to leave with a smile on their face since the show is very funny, with laughter… but I would say with an intelligent laugh because the show has a lot of meaning and leads to reflection. It is a mirror, which is what Shakespeare said that theater should be, and in this case it is a very large mirror of our contemporary behavior.
Economic crisis, pandemic, war in Ukraine… A priori it seems like a difficult context to take a comedy on stage, or is it the opposite?
A comedy always seems important to me. Humor is a great tool to learn from reality and have a critical view of the world. And in the moments when we have the worst time, it is more necessary. That’s why I think this show is very necessary, in the sense that it relaxes and has several layers of understanding. If you want to keep just the most frivolous part you can do it, but then it has other layers of deeper understanding, which are also a lot of fun.
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