Supporting actor Javier Padilla

Actor and playwright Javier Padilla, co-founder and co-director of the theater company Tras el Trapo in Jerez de la Frontera, plays two roles in Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.  He plays the friend Manolo, who owns a shop where our hero, Luis, goes to look for a job.  He also plays the drunk in one of the final scenes.

To be sure the audience won´t recognize him in his two contrasting roles, in addition to very different costuming, in one scene he has a bushy beard and in the other, he does not.  A real beard.  We shot the drunk scene first, then he shaved off the beard (not just for us, but it still served our purposes well), and afterwards, we shot the other scene with him as Manolo.

Javier Padilla as the friend, Manolo, in his shop.  Oops! caught him with his mouth open!

We have written about Javier in earlier blogs but wanted to use this space to "catch up" with what he´s been doing lately.

Well, he´s been doing quite a lot.

This past summer, Tras el Trapo presented the opening of his semi-surrealistic, satirical work, Pepa or Josefa:  when Fernando VII wore an overcoat (¿Pepa o Josefa?...cuando Fernando VII usaba paletó). It has played in numerous venues ever since.

Playbill from Pepa o Josefa.

The play deals with a chaotic period in Spain´s history, the XIX century when the country experienced war, revolution, invasion, frequent changes of government, and warring world views characterized by a tug-of-war between monarchists and Renaissance liberalism.  This is the period in which Napoleon conquered Spain but was later thrown out, in which the Inquisition was first disavowed then reinstated, in which kings fled the country or ruled as puppets or were restored to autocratic power....

Pepa and Josefa are two contrasting female characters, one an aristocrat loyal to the Spanish king and the other, her pragmatic servant.   The entire play is carried by only these two characters, played respectively by María Duarte and Ana Oliva.  Javier Padilla, in addition to being the author, also directed it.

Then, even more recently, he along with other members of the theater company have been presenting something they call the Jaramago´s Blues Band to audiences in several towns and cities in Andalucia, in southern Spain.  This is a light, comic work that makes use of Padilla´s talents as both an actor and musician.

Jaramago Blues Band.

The mini-tour was funded by the European Union as part of its program to revitalize local commerce and local business districts by bringing in activities that would lure local citizens out to enjoy themselves ... and spend money.  There were several additional performing companies that were part of these tours, and entrance to all was free.

All this sounds wonderful, but I need to add a short note here, and that is, that I have learned from many people in the performing arts that it is really important that tours and performances such as these be properly publicized and properly scheduled.  No publicity means no audience.   I mention this because especially in the case of tours organized by government entities, inadequate publicity is often a problem.  Then it look like the public doesn't support the arts (so we can cut THAT out of the budget, right?) when really, it's a question of the organizers not having done their jobs. 

On stage, on tour.

But getting back to Javier Padilla:  he long and the short of it is that, as an actor as well as playwright and musician, he has been a very busy man.

And the best part of it is...that he´s even getting paid (as opposed to some tours in which the actors are  promised a fee by a government organ but then the money isn´t forthcoming).

Relaxing before the show (l to r):  Ismael Colón, María Duarte and Javier Padilla.

OUR NEXT POST will be about supporting actor Nicolás Montoya.

Supporting actor Esteban Viaña

Esteban Viaña plays Javier, the former boss in the shop where Luis worked.  Luis lost his job because Javier, a somewhat older man, decided it was time to retire and he closed the shop.  This was right before the economic crisis;  Javier explains to Luis he had no idea there was going to be a crisis.  He closed his shop at just the right time out of pure luck.

The scenes with Esteban are an important part of the story of Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.  They not only explain why Luis is out of work, but they show how people who are favored by fate -- close their shop just in time, have the money to run a shop to begin with, etcetera, can be insensitive to those around them who do NOT have such good fortune.

Esteban Viaña as the former boss, Javier.

 
Viaña lives in Jerez de la Frontera, and began his acting career at a young age, when he was in grammar school and there was an activity called "Oration and Recitation."  He loved it, and has been hooked on acting ever since.  He has acted in dramas, religious plays, and many other sorts of productions but his favorites have always been plays directed towards children, for which he usually takes a comic role.

Esteban Viaña, yours truly and Antonio de la Malena...checking out the script.

The highlights of his acting career to date include the husband of the lead character in a play by Federico Garcia Lorca called The Prodigious Shoemaker (La zapatera prodigiousa) which was first produced in various smaller venues but later, brought to the main theater in Jerez de la Frontera (a theater with several thousand seats).

He also had a supporting role in a play by the famous Spanish playwright, Alfonso Pasos and more recently, was featured in a production of On this Island, There Are No Cats (En esta isla no hay gatos) presented by the theater company Tras el Trapo.  Tras el Trapo, you may remember, is a theater company co-owned and operated by Javier Padilla, which provided Domino with a number of actors.

Esteban Viaña as Publius Cornelius.

And just this past month, Viaña joined Domino actor Nicolas Montoya in a special production in the old Roman theater at Baelo Claudia (near Bolonia, on the Atlantic coast).  The play was an original work, written to bring to life the history of the ancient city.  Titled The Nights of Isis (Las noches de Isis), he played the role of Publius Cornelius, one of the two Roman governors of the region at the time that the city was an important Roman port and manufacturing center for the luxury article garum (made out of salted, dried fish).

The old Roman theater at Baelo Claudia (with the seats covered up--don´t know why).

And just to be sure he doesn´t get bored, currently, in addition to acting, Viaña has taken up a couple of musical instruments:  the saxophone and the accordion.

OUR NEXT POST will be about supporting actor Javier Padilla.

Some thanks are due here-part 2

I've been remiss in thanking all those who have helped in the making of Domino.  This time, I'm going to thank the theater company, Compañía Teatral Tras el Trapo, located in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

Compañía Theatral Tras el Trapo, more familiarly known simply as Tras el Trapo, is a theater cooperative which supplied us with one of our actors, one of our crew members, and helped us find other actors and crew members when we asked.  Tras el Trapo also lent us their space for a scene, lent us some costuming materials, and generally treated us very nicely, indeed.

Javier (Javi) Padilla in front of the theater company's van.  He's usually not so serious looking.

The company´s producer was individual the who helped us most:  Javier Padilla.  He is an actor and appears in two scenes in Domino.  In one, he is a friend of our hero Luis, but turns Luis down when Luis asks for work because he simply can't afford to hire him.  In another scene, Javier plays the drunk who accosts Luis at night, asking for a light for his cigarette.

Javier also was the one who lent us use of Tras el Trapo´s rehearsal/studio space, lent us some costumes, and provided us with names and contact info of several actors and crew members.

Maria Duarte (center) inside the theater's rehearsal space.  Javier Padilla is on the left.

The other Tras el Trapo member who helped us was Maria Duarte, an actress who worked on our crew as script/continuity.  In our scenes in which people were in a bar drinking beer, she spent a lot of time checking the level of the (usually non-alcoholic) beer in the glasses so it wouldn't suddenly change in the middle of a scene.  She watched over hair styles, checked to see jackets didn´t become unbuttoned simply because it was blazing hot, and other such detailed and kind of thankless tasks.

She also coached the actors with their lines (and a few needed rather a lot of coaching).

Both of these people, and Tras el Trapo itself, really helped in the production of our show.  We are truly appreciative.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about private greed and the economic crisis.

The actors, part 2B-supporting actor Javier Padilla

This is the second and final part of our interview with actor Javier Padilla, who plays Manolo and also the drunk in "Domino."

Interviewer (Eve A. Ma-EM):  What is your experience acting in film and video?  And what are some of your favorite movies?

Javier Padilla:   I began my career in acting at a later age than is usual.  With that in mind, I've been in a handfull of shorts including one called "Curso d"Andalu" [that appeared on Canal Sur in Andalucia].  I was also in a commercial--an experience I'd rather forget.  Finally, I had a part in a film called La mano negra (The Black Hand).  At the end of the movie, my character along with several others were executed.  [This movie is about an anti-fascist organization, or possible organization, in which several of those that Franco's government identified as plotters were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed.  ED]  Then in "Domino,"  I don't end up on the executioner's block, but I do have to fire my employees.  Sad endings.

There are lots and lots of movies that I like.  Of the many, three that stand out in particular are "El Verdugo" of Luis Garcia Berlanga, "The Night of the Hunter" of Charles Laughton and "City Lights" of Charlie Chaplin.  Most contemporary movies I find to be a bit spineless, but every once in a while I am pleasantly surprised.

Javier Padilla as Manolo in "Domino."

EM:  What did you like most about portraying Manolo in "Domino?"  and the drunk?

Javier Padilla:  It was very interesting for me to play the part of a business owner that had to turn down a friend who desperately needed work.  I'm accustomed, in my theater company, to be on the other side, meaning, on the side of the person looking for work.  Playing this role helped me emphathize a little with "the bad guys."

As for the drunk, that was really a simpler role, or at any rate, it wasn't as complicated for me.  To empathize with an occasional drunk is not very hard--even though I'm not a drinker. 

EM:  What was hardest for you?

Javier Padilla:  Nothing in particular.  As I already mentioned, these are roles that I encounter in everyday life, and that didn't require any profound study.  I didn't have to go to any meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous to capture the essence of the drunk, and if I'm familiar with brushing someone off, it's kind of like saying goodbye when you leave for a trip.

Javier Padilla showing off his theater company´s van.

EM:  What did you think of the script and the concept of "Domino?"

Javier Padilla:  I thought it was an interesting focus.  To dissect reality and show the crisis from the point of view of a "normal" person who finds himself in a situation very compromizing (but not uncommon), in my view can help people understand what's going on.  It would be wonderful if the audience responds by feeling solidarity withe the central character, and critical of what's going on.

NOTE:  Due to the blogger´s injury (almost but not quite healed), I may only be able to write one blog per week for the next few weeks.


THE NEXT BLOG will

The actors, part 2A--supporting actor Javier Padilla

Another of the supporting actors in our short independent film is Javier Padilla.

Javier Padilla is a composer and script writer as well as an actor and member of the theater company Tras el Trapo in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.  He has appeared in many video shorts, docudramas and commercials.  As an actor, he is self taught, turning to the theater and to acting in the late 1990s, adding his artistic interests to his degrees in psychology and his participation in different musical groups.  Currently (2011), among other productions he is working as director and actor in the theatrical presentation “Asignatura flamenco” (“Learning through flamenco”) of the group Soniquete. 

Javier Padilla playing the submarine captain in "Capitan Manovardas" (2004).

Some of the videos shorts in which he has appeared are part of the series "Curso DAndaluz" created by Juan del Castillo and much viewed on YouTube.  There are some six episodes in this series, and Javier Padilla appears in all of them, sometimes playing more than one role in the same episode.  In addition, he has been in ??? (docudrama), and has made commercials for companies as varied as ???.

Javier Padilla in the Associacion de Payasos Españoles in Madrid (2009).

His extremely prolific theater career includes writing, structured acting and improvisation.  He and fellow Tras el Trapo troupe members present comic theater,  serious dramas and works for children.  This author has seen several of his productions, of which the comedy "Y ese chico, Pupius" stands out as particularly delightful.  The version that I saw included only three actors (two men and one woman) playing a total of about 8 different roles.  (I say "about" because I lost count.)  Javier is the narrator, the father, the army sargent....  The comedy tells the story of the Roman child Pupius and his misadventures growing up.  It is very, very funny.  

NOTE:  Due to blogger´s injury (getting better but not yet totally healed) I will only be able to post blogs once a week for the next few weeks.

OUR NEXT BLOG will contain the interview portion of this look at Javier Padilla.