Theater dressing rooms are for actors a mixture of home and sanctuary, but even these places have become, in these times of fleeting billboards, something more similar to an ‘airbnb’. There are exceptions, and one of them is Amparo Larrañaga, who has become strong in the dressing room of the Maravillas Menéndez Theater as the protagonist of a performance, ‘Laponia’, a work by Cristina Clemente and Marc Angelet that has just begun its third season. “It’s impressive,” the actress admires, “because now everyone quickly gets tired of everything and wants something new. So it’s wonderful to start a third season.” It is even important to maintain the same cast that premiered the show – accompanied on stage by Iñaki Miramón, Mar Abascal and Juli Fábregas, under the direction of Tamzin Townsend -. “Now it doesn’t happen like before, that an actor was in a performance for as long as it lasted.” The work speaks of the reunion, after ten years without seeing each other, of two sisters, Nuria and Mónica. The first married a Finn and went to Finland to live. The second has stayed in her lifelong neighborhood with her lifelong boyfriend. «There are functions that are touched by a wand, that are magical, and ‘Lapland’ is. The audience loves it, they feel a great identification with the characters, with the situations… Of course, it speaks after all about a family, and we all have one. People laugh and get very excited, it is also a very intelligent comedy; It says very strong things underneath, but the authors have known how to write them with a lot of comedy. I also like polarization; In this case they face each other over a soccer game, but the discussion can be about politics or any other issue. And the audience sees itself reflected and has a wonderful hour and a half. The performances of ‘Laponia’ had to be interrupted at the end of 2022 due to an operation that Amparo Larrañaga had to undergo due to severe mitral insufficiency. “My heart was fine, the problem was a valve.” But since he returned to the scene, a year and a half ago, the only thing he has noticed is improvement. «I’m better than ever, I couldn’t imagine it. Since I had the operation it’s like I’ve gotten younger… I don’t get sick, I’m more active… I’m very happy.” It has, of course, risks. «Having a mechanical valve creates the risk of thrombi or internal bleeding. But with caution and care I have not stopped doing anything. And I have fun, I’m happy, I have energy…»To keep a comedy like ‘Lapland’ fresh as the first day, it takes more than just energy. «Discipline to do comedy as it should be done: without going overboard, without egos, without narcissism. “Do it very well,” says the actress. Family saga Amparo Larrañaga belongs to a fruitful saga of Spanish actors. “I am third generation on my father’s side and fourth generation on my mother’s side,” he recalls. His brother Luis Merlo is also an actor; His other brother, Pedro Larrañaga, and his son, Pedro, have opted for production. «And my son Ángel also likes that aspect of theater more. My sister Paula [hija de hija de Carlos Larrañaga y Ana Escribano ] Yes, she wants to be an actress. Since she is so young, she looks more like my daughter than my sister, and I am very excited.” And being able to work as a family is, for Amparo Larrañaga, “a blessing. It’s the most beautiful thing. Of course there are arguments, but we laugh a lot and have a great time together. Each one has a plot, we combine very well and we obey each other very well. Peter is the boss in a sense; Luis in another and me in another. We get along wonderfully. We are the best friends and the best coworkers.” The proof of this rapport is that he agrees with Luis Merlo that “we have a responsibility to the public; It continues to amaze me that today, with all the offer there is, because they have everything, there are people who leave their house and come to the theater. We think it’s such a wonderful thing… That’s why we respect the viewers so much. You look at them, you thank them and you do everything possible to be at their level.” “The public – says Amparo Larrañaga – is very smart. Perhaps there is a man whom the woman has brought and who is watching a football match on his cell phone, but almost all the spectators have come because they wanted to, and they value what we do; If you make them accomplices, they laugh and applaud, but you don’t tease them. They are very grateful, above all, for the hour and a half of escape that we give them, ‘an hour and a half in which I have not thought about anything and which has been of total enjoyment’, they tell me; and they appreciate it.”“In the theater there is a lack of generational change. But are we giving them what they need?… That is the question. Amparo Larrañaga went on stage for the first time when he was 15 years old. “I’m 61, so I’ve been in the theater for 46 years… A stupid thing.” It was the end of the seventies; Things, logically, have changed a lot. Where do you notice the biggest difference? «First of all, people went to the theater. You saw many parents with their children, too. Not now. Now young people have another type of entertainment; Their idols now are YouTubers, TikTokers… So people wanted to go to the theater, they didn’t care if it was comedy or drama; now, not now it has to be a comedy, because there is a lot of drama outside.”A scene from ‘Laponia’ Nacho Peña”We have ten percent of the audience who are theatergoers, who regularly go to the theater, the rest is occasional; They come because they have been told about the work, because they have taken advantage of an offer or have received a gift… Do you know that there are many young people who sell their cultural voucher to their parents or grandparents? In the theater there is a lack of generational change. But are we giving them what they need?… That is the question. You have to create theater to attract young people and attract them. When I started there was only TVE, the first and second channels, everything that was out there was wonderful. Now the offer is enormous, and the theater, although much cheaper than a few years ago, is expensive. There are those who don’t want to come to the theater, who prefer to go out drinking or shopping, but there are people who can’t. You have to pay for the electricity, and the theater is not your first leisure option. “There is also a lack of institutional support – continues Amparo Larrañaga – which there is in other countries where culture is like the flag. Add to that that on television 99 percent is politics, and that when you go to a program you are not going to do an interview but to participate in a ‘show’. Culture is no longer so popular and, as Javier Cercas said, until it is again this is not going to work. But the theater resists. «Yes, it is a wonderful thing; We are still there, with more morale than Alcoyano. “The figures that were done before are not made, but you adapt, waiting for better times and giving thanks for a phenomenon like ‘Lapland’ to happen.” Even so, Amparo Larrañaga considers herself privileged. “Absolute,” he concludes. “I’m staying in the theater until they kick me out, until I say: ‘It’s over!’ or until health prevents me from doing so.
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