Play Sells Out Before Debut, Extra Shows Added
The production of Jose Padilla’s ‘Take off [None of This Should Have Happened]’ is a triumph even before its premiere. This project, developed over the last year at La Salita in Tenerife’s Auditorio, had scheduled seven performances starting this Friday, 6th March. However, high ticket demand, which has sold out all those shows, has made it necessary to add two new dates. Tickets for the additional performances on Saturday 14th March at 12:00 and Sunday 15th March at 17:30 will go on sale this Wednesday, 4th March, from 10:00.
Exploring a Local Tragedy with Universal Resonance
This innovative theatrical piece is based on the 1977 air disaster at Los Rodeos Airport, which occurred when the director was just one year old. As Padilla himself highlights, it was an event that took on the character of a legend for his entire generation, and he has now sought to take it further, moving from the personal to the universal. It is not a proposal focused on the morbid testimonies of the event, but rather “speaks of a local event and how that fact is also universal.”
“We talk about the accident, without a doubt, but we make an anatomical dissection of it,” summarises the playwright, who won the 2019 Max Award for Performing Arts for his play ‘Dados’. The work now arrives on the stage of La Salita after an ambitious process of documentation, research, and development that, nevertheless, began with a chance event.
“I am a huge fan of the series Breaking Bad, and in the first episode of the third season they talk about the Los Rodeos accident, so I thought it was something that spoke to me directly and that I had to address it in my own way,” recounts the Canary Islander.
From Historical Catastrophe to Theatrical Exploration
Thus, ‘Take off [None of This Should Have Happened]’ bases its plot on the worst accident in aviation history, which occurred on 27th March 1977, when two jumbo jets collided, resulting in the deaths of 583 people. That day, a series of coincidences led those two planes to be on the Tenerife airport runway at the same time. Therefore, this play transforms the air disaster into a scenic exploration of the idea of the event itself. Jose Padilla does not try to recreate it, but rather investigates how a chain of decisions, misunderstandings, and systems under tension can produce fatality.
On stage, human voices, historical echoes, and documentary fragments will come together with the presence of pilots, passengers, air traffic controllers, and the fog itself, forming a chorus that oscillates between fact and delirium. Far from seeking culprits, ‘Take off’ features a choral dramaturgy that shapes a piece transitioning between thriller and comedy.
Avoiding Sensationalism with Poetry and Tact
Jose Padilla himself says he feels “overwhelmed by the response of the Tenerife public,” which has sold out tickets for the seven initially scheduled performances. He states that one of the great challenges of this work is being able to “tell theatrically, with poetry and tact, an event of such great magnitude as this.”
“We have avoided any morbid vision, and the cast provides that with subtlety and tremendous respect for all the people who died,” insists the director, who also celebrates the new line of work launched by the Auditorio de Tenerife. For the first time, it fosters theatrical creation from the most embryonic stages, through a project developed over the last year.
A New Creative Vision for Tenerife’s Auditorio
In this sense, the artistic director of the Auditorio de Tenerife, José Luis Rivero, states that the opening of La Salita already foreshadowed the launch of interesting projects. He recalls that, although small in dimensions, it is capable of hosting notable productions.
“In addition to theatre, where the text challenges society and the author gains relevance, we offer artistic residencies and a line where we offer resources and time for creation,” says Rivero. He celebrates that it is precisely the multi-award-winning Jose Padilla who inaugurates this new line of creation “for his commitment to his texts, and for his vision and concept of theatre.”
The Councillor for Culture of the Tenerife Island Council, José Carlos Acha, also spoke along these lines. He frames this project within La Salita, “which, in addition to a stable programme of theatre and artistic residencies, generates its own productions of this type.”
“Padilla is not a promise but a reality of Canary and Spanish playwriting,” comments Acha, who also highlights the prolific and award-winning career of the Tenerife-born playwright. “‘Take off’ addresses a very hard topic with great beauty and talent, where the truth is exposed with elegance and avoiding all morbidity,” advances the island’s Culture Councillor.
Production Team and Cast
Alongside playwright and theatre director Jose Padilla, the actors in this production are Carlota Gaviño, Almudena Puyo, Kevin de la Rosa, and Lucía Trentini. José Pablo Polo is responsible for music and sound, Paula Quintana is the choreographer, Pau Fullana the lighting designer, and Eduardo Moreno the set designer.
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