tilmum teatroTilmun Teatro made an early use of video on stage in Madrid and presented live contemporary music. It was featured in national press, and supported by artists who built large careers in performing arts. After different directing styles over the years, it’s up and running today.
Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès: Madrid premiere I Caresses by Sergi Belbel: Madrid premiere I Nothing to America by Julio Cortázar: World premiere.
“There is a mythical island called Tilmun in the Sumerian culture that lies in the origins of Western civilization. Somewhere in the Adriatic sea, a land of freedom and peace. While attending a PhD program in Film/Media, I was assigned to start a university theater company. Tilmun Teatro was born. We explored stage narratives through an early use of video on stage in Madrid, and live contemporary music. It was featured in national press, and counted with advisor Miguel Ángel Camacho (light), Elisa Sanz and Victoria Velázquez (set/costume). Writer Pedro Vìllora mentioned that Tilmun Teatro showed independent theater level.”
01 I Nothing to America (originally Nada a Pehuajó) by Julio Cortázar is a landmark work that blends Surrealism with elements of the Theater of the Absurd. We presented the play with four TV monitors on stage, using screens to explore new narratives. These monitors portrayed four virtual facets of a character interacting with a live one. The music was performed live, original, and contemporary, with upcoming artists and mentors collaborating with us. 02 I We staged Caresses by Sergi Belbel a year before its official premiere in Madrid. I worked as an assistant director to Guillermo Heras in that production. 03 I Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès was featured in the national press at the School of Fine Arts Theater Festival, UCM. The works of Cortázar, Belbel, and Koltès, along with visual narratives and contemporary music, are still rare in Spanish university theater today.” —PV
An Island Called Tilmun
Roberto Zucco
“A powerful psychological thriller based on an infamous true story of a lost soul driven to commit terrible crimes, seemingly without motive.” Madrid premiere of Koltès last play.
— Behance Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès
Caresses
“Disturbing picture of contemporary Western society set against a background of urban alienation and violence.” Madrid premiere of Belbel’s iconic work.
— Behance Caresses by Sergi Belbel
Nothing to America
“Absurd and surrealistic story of a man in need of sending a embalmed monkey by regular post office in rural Argentina in the 1950s.” World premiere of a Surrealistic play by Cortázar.
— Behance Nothing to America by Julio Cortázar
ROBERTO ZUCCO
(1994, Spain, 90min) by Bernard-Marie Koltès at Teatro CM Elías Ahúja / Facultad de Bellas Artes University Theater Festival, UCM. Director: Pedro Valiente
Theater
SYNOPSIS “A powerful psychological thriller based on an infamous true story of a lost soul driven to commit terrible crimes, seemingly without motive. Where does evil come from?” [Neues Schauspiel] COLLABORATORS Miguel Ángel Camacho award winning light designer, former technical director in national theaters, professor at national theater school. I Elisa Sanz, set/costume designer, artist with multiple national theater awards.. IN FOCUS Roberto Zucco Madrid premiere (university theater) I National press.
CAST José Antonio Díaz, Miguel Gayà, Domingo Rodríguez, Javier Losada, Pedro Torres, David de Francisco, Pere Gisper, Santiago Cortés, Iñaki Nieto, Miguel Ángel García, Eduardo García, Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, Alicia Martín, Mar Sáez, Carmen Mesa, Cecilia Menéndez, Esperanza Molina, Trinidad Cabrera, Silvia Clemente CREW Director: Pedro Valiente I Directing advisor: César Gil Lighting adviser: Miguel Ángel Camacho I Assistant director: J.A. Díaz I Set/Costume design: Elisa Sanz, Victoria Velázquez I Production coordinator: José Manuel Valiente I Lighting: Eugenio Sánchez, Pablo Varela I Sound: José Carlos Hernández I Technical assistants: Daniel Marrón, Pablo Lozano, Carlos Martel TECH INFO Running time: 90min I Year: 1994 I Language: Spanish I Genre: Visual theater I Country: Spain I © 1994 TT
CARESSES
(1993, Spain, 90min) by Sergi Belbel at Teatro CM Isabel de España, UCM. Director: Pedro Valiente
Theater
SYNOPSIS “Disturbing picture of contemporary Western society set against a background of urban alienation and violence. Caresses, inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's play La Ronde, presents ten scenes with two characters in a confused elationship.” [nickhernbooks.com]
COLLABORATORS Alejandra Prieto The Winged Cranes director I César Gil RTVE executive producer I José Antonio Díaz contributed to develop Tilmun Teatro.
IN FOCUS Caresses Madrid premiere (university theater) [Caresses (scene) I Caresses (full) in English translated by John London, Spanish Plays. New Spanish and Catalan Drama, Nick Hern, 1999].
CAST Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, Goretti Irisarri, Alicia Martín, Araceli Sáez, Carmen Mesa, Santiago Cortos, José Antonio Díaz, Miguel Gayá, Javier Losada, Carlos Alba, Pedro Torres, Matías Fuertes, Emilio Blanco CREW Director: Pedro Valiente I Assistant directors: César Gil, Antonio Cabello I Production coordinator: José Manuel Valiente I Set/Costume: TT I Light: Pablo Lezcano, Pablo Varela MUSIC Composer: Juan José Talavera I Flute: Raquel Pérez, Oboe: Gema Iranzo, Clarinet: Miguel A. Alonso, Guitar: Juan J. Talavera, Piano: Esther Rodríguez TECH INFO Running time: 90min I Year: 1993 I Language: Spanish I Genre: Visual theater I Country: Spain I © 1993 TT
NOTHING TO AMERICA
(1992, Spain, 90min) by Julio Cortázar at Teatro CM Isabel de España, Fundación Sepi, UCM. Director: Pedro Valiente
Theater
SYNOPSIS Absurd and surrealistic story of a man trying to send a embalmed monkey by regular post office in rural Argentina in the 1950s. Nothing to America names Nada a Pehuajó by Julio Cortázar, written in Buenos Aires, when Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett crafted in Europe the Theater of the Absurd. COLLABORATORS Juan José Talavera composer I José Manuel Valiente Threevents director IN FOCUS Nothing to America world premiere I Early use of video on stage.
CAST J.A, Díaz, Matías Fuertes, Pedro Torres, Álvaro Montesinos, Joaquín Fernández, José Ángel Marrero, Francisco Morales, Iván Juanes, Sandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, María Eugenia Montojo, María Ortega, Dolores Sánchez, María Peña, Blanca Sicilia, Dolores Sánchez, Tati García, María Rubio CREW Director: Pedro Valiente I Assistant director: José Manuel Manuel Valiente I Set/Costume/Light/Sound: TT MUSIC Composer: J.J. Talavera I Violin: Fernando Sánchez, Viola: Manuel Fernández, Violonchelo: Lorena Z. R. Casaux, Guitar: J.J. Talavera, Accordion: Iván Gandía VIDEO Director: Pedro Valiente I Camera: José Manuel Valiente I Film set: CEV, Madrid TECH INFO Running time: 80min I Year: 1992 I Language: Spanish I Genre: Visual theater I Country: Spain I © 1992 TT
Bernard-Marie Koltès (1848-1989) was a French playwright and theater director known for The Night Just Before the Forests, (1976), Sallinger (1977), and In the Solitude of Cotton Fields (1986). A close friend and collaborator with director Patrice Chéreau, Koltès followed the legacy left by post-war authors Samuel Beckett, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Genet.
“ROBERTO ZUCCO: Quiero marcharme. Hay que marcharse en seguida. Hace demasiado calor, en esta mierda de ciudad. Quiero ir a África, bajo la nieve. Tengo que marcharme porque voy a morir. […] Me gustaría ser un perro amarillo, roído por la sarna, del que uno se aparta sin prestarle atención. Me gustaría ser un buscador de basuras por toda la eternidad. Quiero marcharme. Hay que marcharse en seguida. Hace demasiado calor, en esta mierda de ciudad. Quiero ir a África, bajo la nieve. Tengo que marcharme porque voy a morir.” [Bernard-Marie Koltès]
BERNARD-MARIE KOLTES
Sergi Belbel (1963) is a Spanish playwright/director that served as director of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. He became well known with his play Caresses in 1992. [Sergi Belbel]
CARESSES I SCENE 1
Living room in an apartment downtown. Young Man and Young Woman.not… Pause
MAN. It’s strange. I WOMAN. What. I MAN. All this. I WOMAN. What do you mean. I MAN. I don’t know if you have realized. I WOMAN. No. What. I MAN. I have a feeling… I WOMAN. Tell me. I MAN. Strange feeling… I WOMAN. What’s up with you. I MAN. It’s like… I WOMAN. Like what… I MAN. Like if no… I WOMAN. No what. I MAN. Like if we have not… Pause I WOMAN. What. I MAN. Nothing to tell each other
SERGI BELBEL
Julio Cortázar (1914-1984), Argentine poet, short story writer, and translator, is part of the boom of excellence in Latin American letters in the 50-60s.
“I think we all have a little bit of that beautiful madness that keeps us walking when everything around us is so insanely sane. […] Only in dreams, in poetry, in play do we sometimes arrive at what we were before we were this thing that, who knows, we are.” [Julio Cortázar]
Nothing to America was described as “theater of the humor and absurd, transgressor, irreverent.” The manuscript was found in Zaragoza, Spain, and, as it happened with Caresses and Roberto Zucco, one year after it was presented by Tilmun Teatro, it premiered nationally.
JULIO CORTÁZAR
Photo: All Caresses Tilmun Teatro photos on this gallery, belong to Caresses National Theater I Top cover: Nothing to America I Original photos coming soon.
Roberto Zucco
Nothing to America
TILMUN TEATRO
Tilmun is a mythical island called in the Sumerian culture which lies in the origins of Western civilization. Somewhere in the Adriatic sea, a land of freedom and peace.
"The lands of Magan [Egypt] and Tilmun looked up at me.
Enki, moored the Tilmun-boat at the coast,
Loaded the Magan-boat sky high.
The joyous boat of Meluhha
transports gold and silver." --Sumerian writing
Aula de Teatro CM Isabel de España / CM Fundación Sepi I UCM
Tilmun
Tilmun Teatro is a university theater company by CM Fundación Sepi and CM Isabel de España at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Pedro Valiente is founding director (1991-1994), and set its future through his mentor César Gil (1994-1996), and assistant director José Antonio Díaz (1997-2008).
“Founding cast including José Antonio Díaz, Alejandra Prieto, Almudena Agulló, Alicia Martín, Carmen Mesa, Miguel Gayá, Domingo Rodríguez, Javier Losada, David de Francisco, Pedro Torres, and Matías Fuertes. The Lion King voice instructor Antonio Cabello collaborated on directing as well as César Gil, RTVE executive producer, who took over the company. Producer José Manuel Valiente coordinated the first three plays. Juan José Talavera composed music for Penelope is Waiting (2015) video installation. Alejandra Prieto created Bunraku work (Japanese puppet theater) for You Are Mythical (2018), documentary film. Both, Pedro Valiente works." --Tilmun Teatro
Timeline
1991-1992 | Tilmun Teatro is born in September 1991. Juan José Sánchez, deputy director at CM. Fundación Sepi, assigned Pedro Valiente as Tilmun Teatro first director. Workshop in Fall semester, production in Spring semester. The first project is world premiere of Nothing to America (1992) by Julio Cortázar. Staging includes multiple video monitors, and live contemporary music.
1992-1993 | Second project is Madrid premiere of Caresses (1993) by Sergi Belbel. Staging introduces new dramaturgy in the university, grows in acting, and reaches audience success.
1993-1994 | Third project is Madrid premiere of Roberto Zucco (1994) by Bernard-Marie Koltès. Production is featured in national press. An independent theater, Sala Cuarta Pared, aims to present Tilmun Teatro. Finally, it performs in University Theater Festival at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
1994-1996 | In 1994, Pedro Valiente is awarded a grant to study filmmaking in New York by the Ministry of Culture of Spain. He asks his professor at MA Journalism, César Gil, to take over. Company's adviser from start, César focuses on acting, and switches to Spanish modern theater. I Behance
[Timeline reviewed in 2025. Some dates may be not accurate.]
1997-2008 | José Antonio Díaz, assistant director from start, becomes third director leading a stable period. In 1999, The Scream of Campanilla by Sara Sánchez, directed by J.A. Díaz, wins Madrid State’s University Theater Festival. An Ideal Husband by Óscar Wilde, directed by J.A. Díaz/Sara Sánchez, is featured in The Reception of Óscar Wilde in Europe (2010) by Stefano Evangelista.
2008-2009 | Sara Sánchez, Beatriz Cobo, Joaquín Manso, José Díaz, and Rosa Torres share directing and stage European theater, active on social media.
2010-2013 | Virginia Frutos is new director, collaborating with Carlos G. González, staging work in Sala Triángulo and Garaje Lumière. In 2013, the company participates at University Theater Festival supported by El Corte Inglés and Madrid State.
2013-2025 | Alberto Basas is new director. Known for Libres (2013) TV series, stages Que el tiempo cura (y no es verdad), Buero Vallejo Award for Young Theater in Madrid State (2017). In 2025, CM Isabel de España website features work by Tilmun Teatro including Entrelazados, Desencuentros, and Generación, as well as directors Alberto Basas and Pedro Torguet Alcolea.
LINKS
Founders CM Fundación Sepi I CM Isabel de España I Universidad Complutense de Madrid Colegios Mayores de Madrid Collaborator CEV
Press El País I ABC I El Diario Montañés I Guía del Ocio Links Aula de Teatro I Vimeo I Flickr I Foroasterosteatro Book The Reception of Oscar Wilde in Europe (2010) by Stefano Evangelista (ed), Bloomsbury Publishing, London, p.civ
— Photo / Logo: © 2025 UCM, CM Isabel de España, CM Fundación Sepi, CEV
Directors 1991-1994 Pedro Valiente 1994-1996 César Gil 1997-2008 José Antonio Díaz 2009-2013 Virginia Frutos 2013-2021 Alberto Basas I 2022- Alberto Basas, Pedro Torguet
2015 RNE3 Homage to César Gil
“Nothing to America by Julio Cortázar, written in Buenos Aires, when Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett crafted in Europe the Theater of the Absurd.”
Tilum Teatro