The Public is Federico García Lorca’s most difficult and mysterious work, and one of the legends of modern Spanish theatre. Lorca wrote it in Cuba, just after his trip to New York, a period of intense experimentation in both his art and his personal circumstances.

The Public deals openly with the subject of homosexuality. It is intended as a war cry against bourgeois hypocrisy and a call for freedom in love and art. Two different ways of understanding Art are explored in this work: the Teatro al Aire Libre, commercial and looking to please the public, and the Teatro Bajo la Arena, which intends to reveal what is hidden beneath and  to question established values.

The work also deals with the theme of masks in the theatre, this leads to the heart of the piece and defines a reality in perpetual change, a kind of dream where characters and identities constantly exchange their roles. In this way, The Public takes us down into the inner reaches of consciousness and challenges the notion of individuality and free will. We are not one, but many.

The Public also considers the subject of art as an instrument for transforming reality, not just politically but in its entirety. Lorca and his fellow Surrealists were convinced that art can transform human beings. In the same spirit, composer Mauricio Sotelo and librettist Andrés Ibañez, worked together with sculptor and set designer Alexander Polzin. They rose to the challenge of transforming The Public into a 21st century opera.

*Title available only in non-EU countries, with the exception of Spain