He says that when he started directing his own works, he was still “the brat from Al salir de clase,” that high school drama from the late ’90s that hit a generation of audiences, and that was a pool of actors. But Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Madrid, 1975) has made a name not only in the world of acting—now lives and works in the United States—but also as a director of the stories he loves to tell. Coming to the Director in Alicante on 11 and 12 March, the newest Women’s Football Club is a choral work featuring 11 actresses that tell and tell the story of a group of women who decide to start their own football. team in England in 1917.
What is seen on stage?
It is the story of the women who stayed at home in the back when the men went to the front in the First World War. They took the place of men in the work of factories. At first they were textile mills, but there came a time when the war dragged on and most of the factories were turned into munitions factories. Some of these women were carrying out the task entrusted in principle to men. They were paid for this work, but of course much less than half of what they got. But they started getting paid, and that was part of the beginning of a kind of women’s liberation. The second phase takes place as soon as they discover that they can become a football team on their own account. From there, they found this kind of escape to find and rediscover themselves independently, through others, through their own friends.
It is based on a true story.
Yes, there have been a few football teams that have existed since then and established a women’s league, but the most representative and on which Massini bases itself the most is Dick, Kerr’s Ladies. They are a well-known team that toured in the United States.
What seduced you in this story?
The first thing that seduces me is Massini himself. He sends me this text and I read it and it fascinates me. I encourage myself and my partner at the production company to do this. Although it is written as a monologue, I immediately imagine it with eleven women. Being able to put eleven women on stage has always been very appealing. This desire is the basis for making it happen. To be able to pay tribute to these women, our grandmothers, our great-grandmothers, and the women in the shadows.
What’s it like adapting a monologue for eleven actors?
It was easy. It was a victory. The actresses created the sisterhood that I think the women on the football team create as well. I saw with my own eyes how they came together in the task of achieving the impossible, because in this era it is almost impossible to do such a job.
Not a single player appears in the game. Was it on purpose?
Yes, it is a work that only women do, but appeals to all audiences. Just as I never thought women had a place in the Lehman Trilogy, I never thought men had a place here either.
Why music?
Massini’s works fit well with the musical. Even if he doesn’t write, he is a writer who gives the feeling that everything he writes is musical. Whenever I read a piece, I want to know how it sounds. Sometimes I include the music, sometimes I don’t. I started playing music from that period in order to adapt the text, which is a five-hour play, to a more or less suitable size, and to try to stage it. I loved some songs so much that at one point I included them until I finally saw the option for it to be a choral piece in the musical sense of the word.
Are musicals better?
The truth is, a play works well if the audience likes it, it doesn’t even have to like you as the director or the actors who interpret it. If people like it, it will work. But it is true that in the beginning I did not try to popularize the public. I deal with the subject so that it interests me, not so that it interests everyone. If I’m not interested… I can’t be involved in the narration.
How do the people react?
I am trying to see all functions. It is very important to see how the public reacts, because that is the last leg of the table, but also the most important, and there are things that change according to the reaction of the public. And with this work, the people always stood up. And we always hung the sold out sign. Beyond that, actresses enjoy it. What we have created is like an amusement park for them. They’re constantly doing thousands of things on stage: playing instruments, dancing, talking to the audience… It’s a great gift for an actress. That’s how I feel.
We see him in front of the cameras and behind the camera. Where do you have the most fun?
Making your debut as an actor is to be the mother of your child to give birth, so you have some control over the birth. But as a director, you are his father. You’re in the room, frustrated, and it’s not up to you at all. Acting empties me, it’s very healthy for me, but if I wasn’t directing, I wouldn’t have told what I wanted to tell. These are two tasks that definitely complement each other. We’re in a country where you tend to identify someone with one thing, and when they do something else, “How can that be?” When I started directing it was very difficult for me because no matter what I did I was “the brat of Al salir de clase”. But then you start directing and you get some success and people start taking you seriously and you’re not the “Coming out of class kid” anymore. They see that you have something to contribute and have the approval of people in the profession, and things change. And you can start living your life. I couldn’t start living my life until I became a director.
He says that when he started directing his own works, he was still “the brat from Al salir de clase,” that high school drama from the late ’90s that hit a generation of audiences, and that was a pool of actors. But Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Madrid, 1975) has made a name not only in the world of acting—now lives and works in the United States—but also as a director of the stories he loves to tell. Coming to the Director in Alicante on 11 and 12 March, the newest Women’s Football Club is a choral work featuring 11 actresses that tell and tell the story of a group of women who decide to start their own football. team in England in 1917.
What is seen on stage?
It is the story of the women who stayed at home in the back when the men went to the front in the First World War. They took the place of men in the work of factories. At first they were textile mills, but there came a time when the war dragged on and most of the factories were turned into munitions factories. Some of these women were carrying out the task entrusted in principle to men. They were paid for this work, but of course much less than half of what they got. But they started getting paid, and that was part of the beginning of a kind of women’s liberation. The second phase takes place as soon as they discover that they can become a football team on their own account. From there, they found this kind of escape to find and rediscover themselves independently, through others, through their own friends.
It is based on a true story.
Yes, there are a few football teams that have existed since then and have established a women’s league, but the most representative and Massini’s base on which is Dick, Kerr’s Ladies. They are a well-known team that toured in the United States.
What seduced you in this story?
The first thing that seduces me is Massini himself. He sends me this text and I read it and it fascinates me. I encourage myself and my partner at the production company to do this. Although it is written as a monologue, I immediately imagine it with eleven women. Being able to put eleven women on stage has always been very appealing. This desire is the basis for making it happen. To be able to pay tribute to these women, our grandmothers, our great-grandmothers, and the women in the shadows.
What’s it like adapting a monologue for eleven actors?
It was easy. It was a victory. The actresses created the sisterhood that I think the women on the football team create as well. I saw with my own eyes how they came together in the task of achieving the impossible, because in this era it is almost impossible to do such a job.
Not a single player appears in the game. Was it on purpose?
Yes, it is a work that only women do, but appeals to all audiences. Just as I never thought women had a place in the Lehman Trilogy, I never thought men had a place here either.
Why music?
Massini’s works fit well with the musical. Even if he doesn’t write, he is a writer who gives the feeling that everything he writes is musical. Whenever I read a piece, I want to know how it sounds. Sometimes I include the music, sometimes I don’t. I started playing music from that period in order to adapt the text, which is a five-hour play, to a more or less suitable size, and to try to stage it. I loved some songs so much that at one point I included them until I finally saw the option of it being a choral piece in the musical sense of the word.
Are musicals better?
The truth is, a play works well if the audience likes it, it doesn’t even have to like you as the director or the actors who interpret it. If people like it, it will work. But it is true that in the beginning I did not try to popularize the public. I deal with the subject so that it interests me, not so that it interests everyone. If I’m not interested… I can’t be involved in the narration.
How do the people react?
I am trying to see all functions. It is very important to see how the public reacts, because that is the last leg of the table, but also the most important, and there are things that change according to the reaction of the public. And with this work, the people always stood up. And we always hung the sold out sign. Beyond that, actresses enjoy it. What we have created is like an amusement park for them. They’re constantly doing thousands of things on stage: playing instruments, dancing, talking to the audience… It’s a great gift for an actress. That’s how I feel.
We see him in front of the cameras and behind the camera. Where do you have the most fun?
Making your debut as an actor is to be the mother of the child who is going to give birth, so you have some control over the birth. But as a director, you are his father. You’re in the room, frustrated, and it’s not up to you at all. Acting empties me, it’s very healthy for me, but if I wasn’t directing, I wouldn’t have told what I wanted to tell. These are two tasks that definitely complement each other. We’re in a country where you tend to identify someone with one thing, and when they do something else, “How can that be?” When I started directing it was very difficult for me because no matter what I did I was “Al salir de clase’s brat”. But then you start directing and you get some success and people start taking you seriously and you’re not the “Coming out of class kid” anymore. They see that you have something to contribute and have the approval of people in the profession, and things change. And you can start living your life. I couldn’t start living my life until I became a director.