Teatro de La Abadía opens its 2026–2027 season under the guiding motto “Enciende tu atención, ilumina el encuentro,” launching a diverse repertoire of socially conscious productions, historical revivals, and community initiatives in Madrid.
Leonora Carrington’s Surrealist Life on Stage
The production stars Natalia Huarte and is written and directed by Alberto Conejero. The script draws directly from Memorias de abajo, an autobiographical text by Surrealist icon Leonora Carrington, detailing her early artistic vocation, a complex relationship with her father, the psychiatric violence she suffered in her youth, and her time in post-Civil War Spain.
Coproduced by Teatro del Acantilado and Producciones Come y Calla in collaboration with Contemporánea Condeduque, the production features an artist talk following the performance on September 8, 2026. La Abadía also hosted an accessible performance on September 10 featuring audio description, subtitling, hearing assistance systems, and a scenic tour, alongside a reading club meeting with Alberto Conejero on September 12 and a digital meeting led by art historian Elisa Sopeña on September 16.
Anarchist History Explored in LIBRES!!!
Directed by Andrés Lima from a text by Esther F. Carrodeguas, the production brings the history of the 1936 anarchosyndicalist organization Mujeres Libres to the present day.
According to production notes, the work functions as an anarchist cabaret celebrating the historical efforts of figures such as Teresa Claramunt, Guillermina Rojas, Federica Montseny, and Mujeres Libres founders Mercedes Comaposada, Amparo Poch y Gascón, and Lucía Saornil. The work is produced by Teatro del Barrio and the Comisionado para la Celebración de los 50 Años de España en Libertad.
Housing Precarity in El imperativo categórico
Victoria Szpunberg returns to Teatro de La Abadía following her 2025 National Prize for Dramatic Literature win with the revival of El imperativo categórico, running from September 17 to October 4, 2026, in the Sala José Luis Alonso. Produced by Teatre Lliure, the production features text and direction by Szpunberg and introduces Sandra Monclús to the cast alongside Xavi Sáez.
The play examines contemporary housing precarity and labor instability through the lens of a fifty-year-old philosophy professor navigating the modern rental market, drawing philosophical framing from Immanuel Kant, Franz Kafka, and Walter Benjamin.
Community Initiatives and Educational Material Drives
Aligning with its theatrical programming, Teatro de La Abadía is launching a school supplies donation drive from September 11 to September 30, 2026. Audience members can donate items such as notebooks, pens, and backpacks in designated spaces near the theater entrances. The donations benefit Asociación Barró, a community organization supporting social inclusion and transformation in local neighborhoods for over thirty years.
This initiative draws inspiration from the upcoming October 29, 2026 premiere of Mantener fuera del alcance de los niños in the Sala Juan de la Cruz. Written, directed, and performed by National Dramatic Literature Prize 2024 winner María Velasco alongside cantaor Al-Blanco and performer Mario Patrón, the production is a coproduced work by Teatro de La Abadía and Pecado de Hybris that reflects on Velasco’s childhood experiences in special education classrooms.
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