More than half of the works of the Teatro de la Abadía in its 2026-2027 season will be directed or written by women

The Foundation Abbey Theater -centre for creation, production and scenic exhibition of the Community of Madrid- has presented this Friday its programming for the 2026-2027 season, in which 14 of the 24 works included are directed or written by women.

This was celebrated by the general director of the INAEM (Ministry of Culture), Paz Santa Cecilia, who attended the presentation, to highlight that “more than a dozen” of this season’s productions are directed by women.

“I would like to applaud the fact that the Abbey brings together more than a dozen leading directors and playwrights, in addition to well-known actresses and other professionals from the scene, corroborating the extraordinary creative moment of our artists“said Saint Cecilia.

Thus, these works will be ‘Free!!!’ with text by Esther Carrodeaguas and direction by Andrés Lima, which will star Alba Flores and will address the history of anarcho-syndicalism in Spain.

Also directed by a woman is ‘The Categorical Imperative’ by National Award winner Victoria Szpunberg; ‘Órgia’, with text and direction by Rocío Hoces and Julia Moyano; ‘Keep out of the reach of children’, written and directed by María Velasco; ‘The Dogs’, by Carmina S. Belda; ‘However it moves’, which Ana Vallés has written and will direct; or ‘Flor de greguerías’, directed by Malgosia Skandera.

Added to these productions is the award-winning ‘Casting Lear’; ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’, directed by Beatriz Argüello; ‘The Titanic Days’, directed by Beatriz Jaén; ‘I tell it or I don’t tell it’, with dramaturgy and direction by Lucía Miranda; ‘Free Stone’, with text by Marta Barceló; ‘Dysphoria’, also created and directed by María Goiricelaya; and, finally, ‘Those who look’, by Eva Mir.

THE ABBEY, “MEETING PLACE” IN FRONT OF “THE NOISE AND THE FURY”

The theater’s artistic director, Juan Mayorga, has proposed The Abbey as a “meeting place” in the face of current times in which “fury and noise” are “spread everywhere.”

“In these times when sound and fury seem to spread everywhere, the abbey wants to offer itself to the city as a place for meeting, for conversation and for the serene examination of what matters to the majority. Agora, neighborhood patio, house with many doors, all that wants to be La Abadía this season“, he added.

To this new season, the Teatro de la Abadía arrives after having welcomed more than 79,000 spectators in its rooms during the current year and an occupancy in the current season close to 90%. Mayorga explained that in more than half of the works the occupancy has exceeded this percentage and he thanked the “loyalty”, which, as he specified, has been reflected in an increase in the number of subscriptions.

Thus, the Abbey will once again program the productions ‘Francisco Ferrer ¡Viva la Escuela Moderna’ directed by José Luis Gómez, to vindicate the pedagogue’s legacy; and ‘The Categorical Imperative’ by Sandra Monclús.

It will also revive the award-winning ‘Casting Lear’, with text and direction by Andrea Jiménez and Úrsula Martínez, inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’, which will also be present this season at the Abbey directed by Declan Donnellan.

Among the 24 show productions aimed at all audiences that the Abbey will host – one more than last season – five are their own productions and another five are co-productions. Mayorga has announced that there are installations from Andalusia, Asturias, Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Navarra. Professionals from countries such as Argentina, France, the United Kingdom and Uruguay have worked in some.

On the other hand, Mayorga will once again direct one of the productions and in this case it will be ‘The Interpreter’, which will star Juan Paños and an actress to be determined.

The presentation was attended by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Community of Madrid, Luis Martín Izquierdo, and the general coordinator of Culture of the Government Area of ​​Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Madrid City Council, María José Barrero García.

The new season will start on September 3 with ‘Leonora’, directed and with text by Alberto Conejero. It is a work, Mayorga explained, about “the rebellion and imagination” of the artist Leonora Carrington.

The Abbey will say goodbye to the 2026-2027 academic year with inspiration from Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’, directed by Declan Donnellan, in June next year.

The Community of Madrid, the Ministry of Culture, through the INAEM and the Madrid City Council will financially support this season.