A high school. A blackboard. A biology lesson on survival and adaptation. And, outside the classroom, a war that has been ravaging the country for years. This is how *Cucaracha* begins—Sam Holcroft’s play, which La Rambleta will host on October 3 and 4, transforming an educational space into a stage from which to explore the limits of knowledge in the face of violence.
Famous actress Hiba Abouk stars in the play as Beth, the teacher who drives the entire story. Best known for her work on the series *El Príncipe*, *Cucaracha* marks her return to the stage after years devoted to her film and television career. She is joined on stage by top-tier actors and actresses such as Lucía Díez, Daniel Guerro, Miriam Queba, Nakarey, and Javier Amann.
The plot unfolds as the male students receive, one after another, draft notices calling them to arms in what the state calls “the Just War.” The teacher clings to the routine: the syllabus, the exams, the implicit promise that there is a future to look forward to… but violence eventually seeps into the classroom as well—in the language, in the way the young people look at one another and interact. The question that underpins the entire play is as simple as it is uncomfortable: “Can education save us, no matter what happens?”
The play is not anchored to any specific country or historical moment, allowing it to drift between the past, present, and future with equal unease. That geographical and temporal ambiguity is, precisely, one of its most effective devices: *Cucaracha* could be happening right now, anywhere.
An internationally renowned playwright and director
Sam Holcroft, the play’s author, is a winner of the Windham Campbell Prize for Literature and has premiered plays at the National Theatre and the Almeida Theatre in London. *Cockroach*, the original English-language version, was co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Traverse Theatre, and was nominated for Best New Play at the Scottish Theater Critics’ Awards.
The play is directed by Julián Fuentes Reta, winner of the 2015 Max Award for Best Direction and Best Production for *Cuando deje de llover*. The director himself sums up what led him to choose this play: “It speaks of death, love, and hate; of the present, the future, and the past. It’s a masterpiece, and it introduces us to the work of a playwright who we’re convinced is—and will remain—fundamental.”
