FesteLOff Jury Panel
1st edition FesTeLOff’s
Paula Rodríguez – Spanish actress based in London (1st edition FesTeLOff’s Jury)
Paula is a Spanish actress based in London. She is also a translator, writer, director and producer working in collaboration with other artists and creating her own artistic projects. She trained at The Royal School of Drama in Madrid (RESAD) and worked for Spain’s National Classical Company (CNTC).
In 2013 Paula completed the MA Classical Acting at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Since then she has been part of several theatre projects and collaborated with companies such as The Spanish Company at Cervantes Theatre and Flute Theatre; premiering Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer Night Dream” at Chichester Festival 2019. In the UK she has also collaborated with other organisations such as Dash Arts, The Young Vic, The Vaults Festival, FesteLon Spanish Theatre Fest. and CASA Festival.
In Spain, she has also worked with other companies such as Delabarca, a theatre company specialising in Calderón de la Barca’s works directed by Nuria Alkorta, Metatarso directed by Dario Facal and Cuarta Pared. Paula has participated in TV series such as “Cuéntame cómo pasó”, and “Nada que celebrar”. More recently she appeared as Dorothy in “El Mago de Oz” at Conde Duque directed by Juan Ayala y Annie Pui Lin Lok and the short films: The Belt, The Stonger and La Masa. She has won 2020 best documentary actress on International screen awards for The Stronger.
She is the co-founder and artistic director of Teatro Inverso, revisiting Spanish classics for international audiences; their two shows “ROSAURA” and “WONDERS” have toured internationally since 2015. In 2017 together with a group of foreign artists she created “The Other Solos, Shakespeare”, a series of YouTube monologues reflecting on Shakespeare and migrants. Paula is currently developing a new project “AURIC (songs from a golden age)” mixing Spanish Golden Age poetry and experimental music.
María Estévez-Serrano – Spanish award-winning actor and writer (1st edition FesTeLOff’s Jury)
María is an award-winning actor and writer who has trained as an actor and dancer both in Spain and the UK. She also
holds a degree in Philosophy from the UAM University.
Besides her brief appearances on TV (Guerilla, Sky Atlantic; Locked Up Abroad, National Geographic) she has enjoyed
a long career on stage. Her tribute to Federico García Lorca, “Verde, Agua y Luna” has been twice awarded with the
prizes for Best Theater Production and the Runner-Up for Best Performance by the Latin UK Awards (LUKAS).
Some other recent and outstanding credits include: “Zombie Carmen” (dir. Evi Stamatiou), “The Bathhouse” (dir. Luis Gayol), “A bunch of Spanish Flowers” (dir. Daniel Kelly and Luis Gayol), and “The Sound of Yellow” (dir. Mathew Xia). On the big screen we have seen her recently in the feature film "Hurricane " (aka Mission of Honor) by BAFTA and EMMY Award-Winning director David Blair. Maria collaborates with the Young Vic´s“Two Boroughs” project, the political theatre project “The Boiler Suits” and the Festival of Spanish Theatre in London (FeSTeLón).
Mary Parker
Mary Parker has been a publicist at the National Theatre for over 16 years, the many productions she worked on…
…include Anything Goes, South Pacific, War Horse, Othello, King Lear, The History Boys, Frankenstein, Twelfth Night, Pinocchio and Network.
Mary was involved in launching NT Live in 2009 with Phèdre, NT Live and was the publicist for these live for seven years.
I am a huge fan of FeSTeLõn and am delighted to be a part of the Spanish Theatre Festival this year
Juan Carlos Rubio – Actor, Director and Writer – FeSTeLõn 2015 and 2016
Juan Carlos Rubio is an actor, television scriptwriter, film scriptwriter and playwright, born in Córdoba, Spain. Since his first text, Esta noche no estoy para nadie, was premiered in 1997, he has premiered and directed over sixteen works including Las heridas del viento, Humo, Arizona, Tres and 100m2, to name a few.
He also has directed works by other authors including El pez gordo by Roger Rueff; Razas and Muñeca de porcelana, both by David Mamet. He has directed and written shows for various awards including the Young Artists Awards in the Community of Madrid and the Buero Theatre Awards. Amongst other awards, he has won the Hermanos Machado de Sevilla 2000 for Las heridas del viento, Mention of Lope de Vega Award 2006 for Arizona and Lope de Vega Award for Shakespeare nunca estuvo aquí. He was nominated for the 2009 Goya Film Award for Best Original Script for Retorno a Hansala and his film Bon appétit won the Silver Biznaga for Best Screenplay at the 2010 Málaga Spanish Film Festival. In 2010, he won the H.O.L.A in New York as best director and in 2011.
Biography and CV in English here
Biografia y CV en español aqui
Ascen López – Actress, Performed at FeSTeLõn 2018
Graduate of Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid (RESAD) under William Layton. 1984
THEATRE
2019/2020.- “Billy Elliot. El Musical”. Director David Serrano. Teatro Nuevo Alcalá
2018.- “Luces de bohemia” by Valle Inclán. Director Alfredo Sanzol. CDN. María Guerrero.
2017.-“Mármol” by Marina Carr, directed by Antonio Castro
2016.- “Los dramáticos orígenes de las galaxias espirales” by Denise Despeyroux. Sala Princesa. CDN.
2015.- “Cuando deje de llover” by Andrew Bovell, directed by Julián Fuentes Reta. Naves del Matadero. Teatro Español.
2013/14.- “De buena familia” by Natalia Hernández. Off Teatro Lara. Sala Triángulo
2011.- “Los sueños de mi prima Aurelia” by Federico García Lorca. Teatro de la Abadía. Director Miguel Cubero.
2008.- “Presas” by V. Fernández and I. del Moral. CDN. Ernesto Caballero
2006/07.- “Cuerpo de mayor” (Nada es casual y 3). Alberto Jiménez
2003.- “Tierra de por medio” Teatro del Cruce. E. Caballero
1999/2000.- “Maria Sarmiento” Teatro del Cruce. E. Caballero
1995/2019.- “Me siento pulga”, Jardiel, Mihura. Las Pulgas teatro
1996/1997.- “Mirandolina, la posadera”, Goldoni. E. Caballero
1987.- “El amor enamorado” by Lope de Vega. Producciones Marginales
1986.- “El cuervo graznador grita venganza”. Producciones Marginales
1985.- “Rosaura, el sueño es vida, mileidi”. Producciones Marginales
CINEMA & TELEVISION
“Servir y proteger”
“Nadsrovia”
“Caronte”
“Velvet”
“Centro médico”
“Acacias 38”
“Cuéntame” TVE 1
“Aguila roja” Tele 5
“La que se avecina” Tele 5, FDF
“Sin tetas no hay Paraíso” Tele 5 Jose Luis Berlanga
“Amar en tiempos revueltos” TVE1 Asier Aizpuru, Diego Lesmes,
“Mujeres invisibles” TV movie TVE1 Sergio Cabrera
“Al filo de la ley” TVE 1
“El Comisario” A 3
Biography and CV in English here
Biografia y CV en español aqui
Ignacio García – Director of the Festival Internacional de teatro clásico de Almagro
Ignacio García is a graduate in stage direction from Madrid’s Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático and has won the Spanish Association of Stage Directors’ prizes for best director and best young director, as well as the first Stage Production Design competition organized by the Teatro Real in Madrid. He is Director of the Almagro International Classic Theatre Festival and has been the Artistic Direction Adviser to the Teatro Español de Madrid. He is also Programme Director for the Festival Dramafest de México, which focusses on contemporary drama.
From the start of his career he has worked to spread awareness and knowledge of Spanish Golden Age theatre, creating stage productions and giving seminars on the subject throughout the world. He has directed Los empeños del mentir by Hurtado de Mendoza y Quevedo, Los empeños de una casa by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Flor de otoño by Rodríguez Méndez in the Teatro María Guerrero, En el oscuro corazón del bosque by José Luis Alonso de Santos in the Teatro Lope de Vega in Sevilla, En la roca by Ernesto Caballero in thel Teatro Español in Madrid, Las Meninas by Ernesto Anaya in the Dramafest festival in Mexico City, Los habitantes de la casa deshabitada by Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Arizona by Juan Carlos Rubio, in the Teatro Helénico in Mexico City, and the Sala de la Princesa at the Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid, and in Festivals in Miami, Buenos Aires and Córdoba in Argentina and Jalapa, La sangre de Antígona by José Bergamín with the Compañía Nacional de México, the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato and the Teatro María Guerrero, El Greco y la legión tebana by Alberto Herreros, Enrique VIII, La cisma de Inglaterra by Calderón de la Barca with the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico, El secuestro de la Cuquis by Darío Fo at the Teatro Helénico in Mexico City and De algún tiempo a esta parte by Max Aub, at the Teatro Español in Madrid, Kijote Kathakali with the Margi Theatre Company in Trivandrum (India), La hija del aire by Calderón de la Barca with the Compañía Nacional de Teatro in México and the Teatro Julio Jiménez Rueda, Historia del cerco de Lisboa by José Saramago in the Almada Theatre Festival (Portugal), Veinticuatro horas de la vida de una mujer by Stefan Zweig at the Teatro de la Abadía in Madrid, Hijas del aire bye Calderón de la Barca and Juliusz Slowacki at the Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Opole (Poland),. Fuenteovejuna o el valor de las mujeres by Lope de Vega in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Reinar después de morir by Luis Vélez de Guevara at the Teatro Joaquím Benite in Almada (Portugal) and the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid in a co-production between the Portuguese Companhia de Teatro de Almada and the Spanish Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico. He has participated in the MESS International Festival in Sarajevo with the show La armonía de las esferas and in the Scandicci Festival with La cuadratura del círculo by V.P. Kataiev.
With regard to opera, he has directed more than 30 works from the international repertoire, including works by Monteverdi, Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Paisiello, Massenet, Gounod, Stravinski, Donizetti, Mendelssohn and Schumann), as well as five world premières, also evidencing a special sensitivity for zarzuela and the Spanish repertoire across the ages, including works by Mateo Flecha, Juan del Encina, Ramón Carnicer, Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, Joaquín Gaztambide, José María Usandizaga, Pablo Sorozábal, Jacinto Guerrero, Joaquín Nin-Culmel, Luis de Pablo, J. Rueda, A. Rodríguez de Hita, Emilio Arrieta, Soutullo y Vert, Vicente Martín y Soler and Manuel García.
Likewise he has directed various educational productions relating to opera in a number of European countries, around works by Bach, Pergolesi, Mozart, Donizetti, Britten, Krasa and Vasco Negreiros. He also frequently collaborates with the European Opera Centre on operatic projects with European youth. He has directed production in the Teatro Real, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Teatro Español, Teatro Albéniz and Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid, Teatro Arriaga and Teatro Euskalduna in Bilbao, Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Teatro Principal in Mahón, Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, the Ópera in Lausanne, Teatro García Barbón and the Teatro Auditorio in Vigo, Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón, Teatro Colón in A Coruña, the Auditorio ciudad de León and in the Festival of Galicia, the Mozart Festival of A Coruña, the Almagro, Niebla, Scandicci, Perelada and Aranjuez festivals, the London Flamenco Festival, the Guanajuato Festival, the Venice Biennale, St. George’s Hall and Liverpool Hall in Liverpool, the Bremen Schauspielhaus, the Gdansk Opera Baltycka, Utrecht, the San Sebastián Kursaal, the Teatro Principal in Mallorca, theTeatro Verdi in Trieste, at the Teatro Herodes Ático, the MUAC in Mexico City, the Athens Opera, the Teatr Wielky in Poznan and the Teatro Alexandrinski in St Petersburg, representing a substantial international projection of his work.
He has made audio recordings with the most prestigious directors in Spain and Mexico. He combines his work as a stage director with teaching, giving courses, seminars and master degree programmes in a number of countries (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, India, Poland, Mexico and Colombia). He has been a teacher at the Valladolid School of Dramatic Art, the Accademia della Belle Arti Santa Giulia in Brescia (Italy) and at the Bande a Part school of film in Barcelona.
Biography and CV in English here
Biografia y CV en español aqui
Natalia Calderón – Actress, Performed at FeSTeLõn 2019
Natalia was trained in the Michael Chekhov performance technique (Graham Dixon, Michael Chekhov Studio London; Lenard Petite, Michael Chekhov Europe), which she applies to teaching singing. She has obtained the following degrees from the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares: Specialist Degree in Voice Pathology; Specialist Degree in the Rehabilitation and Enhancement of the Professional Speaking and Singing Voice; Master’s Degree in Voice Pathology and the Professional Voice. She is also a graduate in Marketing and Public Relations from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
She has trained as a specialist in vocal jazz singing at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Netherlands) and at the Musikene (Higher School of Music of the Basque Country), where she was awarded the Higher Degree in Vocal Jazz. Her mentors include Deborah Carter (jazz, scat vocal), Nancy Marano (jazz, scat vocal), Deborah Brown and Judy Niemack (jazz, voice techinque and scat), Sheilah Cuffy (gospel, soul, funk) and Helen Rowson (voice training).
Trained in the Estill Voice Training System – Voice Craft together with Anne Marie Speed, Helen Rowson and Paul Farrington.
Trained in the Brilla & Paglin technique together with Raquel Andueza.
Professional training in Eurythmics together with Raphaela Fritzsch, Olga de Jenaro and Leonor Montes.
Vocal Coach to Melani García, the Spanish representative at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
Voice and Movement Trainer for the RTVE reality show Operación Triunfo 2020.
As a leader she develops personal projects as a singer, composer and song writer in original recording productions, including Natalia Calderón Quartet and GrooveBox. She has performed at numerous festivals, notably the Bangkok and Koh Samui International Jazz Festival; Jazzaldia (the San Sebastián International Jazz Festival); The Rotterdam International Jazz Festival; the North Sea Jazz Festival; and
Jazzahead! Bremen.
As an actress, singer, composer, producer and creator she has participated in the staging and production of musicals including La Calderona (Almagro International Classic Theatre Festival), 27 Espectáculo Poético Musical – Women Poets of the Generation of ’27 (Ciclo de Mujeres – Teatro Alfil), Nano Cabaret (International Festival of Comedy Theatre, Maia), Anónimas (“Microtheatre for Money”, Madrid).
As a teacher she has worked as Director of the Master’s in Musical Theatre at the Escuela Universitaria de Artes TAI; as Director of the Broadway Sound Choir at the Escuela Coral de Madrid; as head of the Department of Contemporary Voice at the Escuela Municipal de Música y Danza de Alcobendas, Lecturer in Vocal Technical and Coaching on the Master’s in Musical Theater (TAI), Lecturer in Technique and Interpretation for parts 1 and 2 of the Degree in Fine Arts (TAI), Lecturer in Body Technique for Singers in the Higher Degree in Jazz at the Escuela de Música Creativa, Lecturer in Gospel Choir at the Escuela Municipal de Música y Danza de Alcobendas.