These pages are all about Valencia's vibrant culture scene

Festival D'Estiu - Sagunt a Escena

The annual Festival D'Estiu - Sagunt a Escena begins tomorrow night with a musical version of, wait for it, Hamlet. The Festival this year is greatly reduced with all the performances taking place in the marvellous Roman Amphitheatre which dominates the old town of Sagunto. Last year there was a wonderful alternative space in the Port of Sagunto where they held Dance, an exhibition and even a happening! They are blaming all on the crisis, which is a great shame as turnout was excellent for most events.

Performances take place late - 22:00 or later - but get to Sagunto earlier and have a meal or tapas at one of the lovely restaurants that line the hilly street up to the castle and amphitheatre - there's a great atmosphere and the restaurants offer excellent value for money.

30 and July 31 - 22:30
HAMLET (Family Portrait) from W. Shakespeare
Director: Ximo Flores
Festival d'Estiu Production
PHYSICAL THEATRE / new stage languages
Word, gesture and music come together in this production with live performance by the band Opus / nigrum, whose dark chords endow a frantic pace and Gothic representation.

August 3rd - 22:30 h
W. RICHARD III Shakespeare
Director: Ricardo Iniesta
Atalaya-TNT THEATRE
Tells the real story of King Richard III. Coming from the maximum current situation to the description of the man of yesterday, through the power struggle at any price.

6 and 7 August - 22:30 h
SANGREPURA
Choreography by Ramón Oller
Ballet Theatre
Festival d'Estiu Production
DANCE
Sangrepura is a montage of the vampire myth, a dip in the Goth culture, journeying from the Slavic myth recreation to the existing urban tribes of 'emos'.

August 10 - 22h
Delgado Aureli 1810-7based on the texts of Antigone of Sophocle
Director: Aureli Delgado
Carme Teatre
THEATRE / new stage languages
A kaleidoscopic view and a reflection on the myth created by Sophocles shows its survival over time, to the present day.

August 11 -
22:00h ACTS OF YOUTH Itsaso Arana, Paul Fidalgo, Gil and Celso Violeta Gimenez
La Tristura Teatro
THEATRE / new stage languages
The 'Trilogy of the end of the world. " Love, surrender, abandonment and body aches are issues that the company from Madrid brings to the stage.

00:00 h THE INDIFFERENCE OF ARMADILLOS Abel Zamora
Director: Sergio Caballero
Oscura Teatre
THEATRE / new stage languages
a staging that puts viewers in a peep show in which are intertwined the stories of four nocturnal characters

01:00 ON HEROES AND ANTI-HEROES James Pallares, Pedro Lozano and Rafa Casañ
Director: James Pallares
Teatro de lo Inestable (Theatre of Unstable)
THEATRE / new stage languages

August 12 -
22:00h The lesser evil of David Climent, Nacho Vera and Paul Miller
Director: David Climent and Paul Miller
PHYSICAL THEATRE MUSIC / new stage languages
Halfway between reality and poetic emotional pornography.

00:00h THE JASMINE OF THE BRAIN
Author and Director: Gerardo Esteve
Company Gerardo Esteve
THEATRE / new stage languages
Jasmine' brains' shows a dramatic device in which what happens is ahead of the eye of the beholder. Language, humor, poetic are some of the tools of this original piece of theater.

August 14 - 22:30 h
RAIN
Idea and choreography: Yerbabuena Eva
allet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena
FLAMENCO DANCE MUSIC
Eva Yerbabuena, Max Award for best artist and best dance show.

August 17 - 22:30 h
A WHITE NIGHT WITH THE CLASSICS Adolfo Marsillach
Director: Angel Ojea
With Blanca Marsillach
THEATRE
Through an electronic screen, Marsillach takes over the stage, while Blanca joins him in some of the most important pieces of Spanish classical theater.

August 19 - 22:30 h
CALIGULA by Albert Camus
Director: Santiago Sanchez
L'Om Imprebís
THEATRE
Santiago Sanchez, director of the theater company L'Om Imprebis, complete with 'Caligula', which binds to 'Galileo' and 'Don Quixote', his trilogy about idealism and utopia.

August 21 - 22:30 h
MARTYRDOM, 25 YEARS
FLAMENCO JAZZ CONCERT MUSIC SONG
Songs of the past as Murcia, raised, tarantos, tarantas, milongas, tanguillos, and even a couplet soleares part of a thrilling spectacle without reservation. The singer Martirio close the festival going through his 25 years on stage. A piano, a guitar and his voice.

STREET THEATRE

30 July, 3, 6, 14, 19 and August 21 - 20:30 pm
Esperanto TOT and Sonia Tomas Alejo Ibáñez
Director: Tomás Ibáñez
Cia de Teatre visitants
Under the Roman Theatre Plaza

31 July, 7 and August 14
ITINERANTS INTERIORS
Director: Tomás Ibáñez
Cia de Teatre visitants
Street performances on beaches, markets and squares

July 31 - 20:30 pm
A B MONO MONO
Captain Marvel Productions
Circus in the square beneath the Teatro Romano

August 7 - 20:30 pm
THE BAND OF THE CLOWN RECICLOWN
Art Director: José Carlos Soto
CIA de Teatre Engrata
Circus in the square under the Roman Theatre

IVAM (THE INSTITUTE OF MODERN ART IN VALENCIA) rarely disappoints and the current exhibitions are exceptional.

NEW EXHIBITION AT IVAM

Welsh Artist Julian Opie brings his cut-outs, paintings and LED pictures to Valencia in a major new show for the gallery.

Opie is considered one of the most significant artists of his generation. Opie has developed his own reductive formal language which seeks to reflect, not reality itself, but rather the way in which reality is represented.more

IVAM,
Guillem de Castro 118

Tel: 96 386 30 00

Tuesday to Sunday 10-8 pm (Sunday, admission free.
Monday-closed)

NEED GOOD READING AND LISTENING? GO HERE FOR THE LATEST REVIEWS FROM
GOORU AND BABU
And A little plug for a great new book shop in Valencia - KandA - european books to buy and sell! click on the ad to the right for more info.

¡Guerra! by Jason Webster is out now - we have an exclusive interview with the author here

You want art? There are around 30 galleries and museums in the city. The excellent IVAM devoted to modern art, the Museo de Bellas Artes, a fine permanent collection and well staged exhibitions, the Bancaixa Gallery has a large permanent collection of Picasso etchings.

Go here for a list of the major galleries - all are open daily except monday - entrance fees vary but are not expensive and Sundays, all galleries are free.

Theatre your thing? There are four major theatre spaces in the city, an excellent Music Palace Palau de Música and the stunning Opera house masterpiece Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía by the celebrated Valencian Architect Calatrava. There is also a thriving café theatre scene (seasonal) and many of the smaller clubs have performance on a regular basis.
Sagunto - up the coast a bit has a roman amphitheatre and stages not only the classics but concerts as well.

Go here for a list of the major theatres and here for the clubs

Are you a movie fan? The Spanish love movies - there are cinemas all over town - mainly dubbed in Castellano, so you're going to have to learn the language if you want to see the blockbusters, although the Ciné Cité at Fuencarral (click their box top right to go to their site)in Campanar does show a handful of blockbuster films in Original Version each week. For arty films there are the excellent Albatross and Babel (click their box top right) cinemas which show their films in original version and the IVAC - Filmoteca.(click their box top right)The annua festival Cinema Joven takes place each June for one week, and tthe excellent Mostra de Valencia - the Mediterranean film festival happens around October each year, more here as they happen. The IVAC has a summer outdoor cinema in front of the Palau de Musica in the riverbed all the way through August, the programme will be here when it's published .

Is music your bag? There's a wealth of music here in Valencia for you to enjoy. From rock to folk to classical to brass bands to jazz and back again click here for the major venues.

Always got your face in a book? go here for reviews and the inspired monthly column from Gooru.

Fashion Victim or just love to read an excellent woman columnist? Anita Darling is here, and Barbara O'Neill is here, just for you.

TWO LOVERS
A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbour. Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow

DORIAN GREY
Based on Oscar Wilde's much-celebrated novel, "The Picture of Dorian Grey". Starring Colin Firth and Ben Barnes.

MOTHER AND CHILD
Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts, David Ramsey
Drama centered around three women: A 50-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years ago, and an African American woman looking to adopt a child of her own.

Valencia's
major rock and pop venues
This list does not aim to be definitive - just to give Valencia's main rock and pop music venues. If you would like to get in touch with us to request we add a venue or to report a broken link, please email us here
For venues outside Valencia , click here

Valencia's
major art galleries
and exhibition venues
This list does not aim to be definitive - just to give Valencia's major art exhibition spaces. If you would like to get in touch with us to request we add a venue or to report a broken link,please email us here
For venues outside Valencia , click here

Valencia's
major theatre and classical music venues
This list does not aim to be definitive - just to give Valencia's main theatre and classical music venues. If you would like to get in touch with us to request we add a venue or to report a broken link, please email us here
For venues outside Valencia , click here

Valencia's
Venues that show films in Original Version
This list does not aim to be definitive - just to give Valencia's main Original version Film venues. If you would like to get in touch with us to request we add a venue or to report a broken link, please email us here
For venues outside Valencia , click here

All content
©2007/2008
thisisvalencia.com
unless otherwise stated

BABEL
LIFE DURING WARTIME
Shirley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Ciaran Hinds
Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in a war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos.

PARANOID PARK
Gus Van Zant
An unsolved murder at Portland's infamous Paranoid Park brings detectives to a local high school, propelling a young skater into a moral odyssey where he must not only deal with the pain and disconnect of adolescence but the consequences of his own actions.

ELLA UNA JOVEN CHINA
(English/Mandarin)
Mei, a young Chinese woman decides to leave her humdrum life in a village near Chongqing. But nothing goes as expected. After being fired from the factory where she works she moves to London, where she marries an older man, Mr. Hunt.

NOTHING PERSONAL
Urszula Antoniak. Lotte Verbeek and Stephen Rea
Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin

ALBATROS
Saddest news of the moment for Version Original film in Valencia is that, almost without warning the lights have gone out permanently at Albatros - so we now have to rely on Babel for great art films in their original versions

CULTURE ARCHIVES

Josh Rouse Interview

Festival Veo 2006

Palau de les Arts opening

Andie McDowell in VLC

Anita Darling Archive

Live reviews 1

Live reviews 2

FILMOTECA D'ESTIU
From JuLY 30 to AUGUST 28
In the grounds of the Palau de la Música - every night at 22:30. You can grab a bite to eat while you're there at the very reasonable bar. All films are in original version with Spanish Subtitles.

Friday 30, Saturday 31 July and Sunday 1 August
ANNIE HALL. Woody Allen. 1977. 93’ Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the dizzy Annie Hall

Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 August
GARBO. EL ESPÍA. Edmon Roch. 2009. 88’ A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history

Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 August
LA ROSA PÚRPURA DE EL CAIRO. Woody Allen. 1985. 82’
Woody Allen's classic 1985 comedy. "I just met a wonderful new man, he's fictional but you can't have everything"

Friday 6, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August
MANHATTAN. Woody Allen. 1979. 96’ Woody Allen's Black and White Masterpiece with its wonderful Gershwin soundtrack. Mariel Hemmingway, Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep.

Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 August
SHES OF TIME REDUX. Wong Kar Wai. 2008. 97’ Mandarin

Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 August
BALAS SOBRE BROADWAY. Woody Allen. 1994. 99’ In 1920s New York, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced

Friday 13, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August
LA CINTA BLANCA. Michael Haneke. 2009. 145’ German

Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 August
CELDA 211. Daniel Monzón. 2009. 110’ Castellano

Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 August
TODOS DICEN I LOVE YOU. Woody Allen. 1996. 101’ Woody Allen, Drew Barrymore. A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a shaky marriage while her half sister gets engaged

Friday 20, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 August
UP IN THE AIR. Jason Reitman. 2009. 108’ George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick. With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 August
LA MALDICIÓN DEL ESCORPIÓN DE JADE. Woody Allen. 2001. 103’ An insurance investigator and an efficency expert who hate each other are both hypnotized by a crooked hypnotist with a jade scorpion into stealing jewels.

Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 August
EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS. Juan José Campanella. 2009. 126’ Castellano

Friday 27 and Saturday 28 August
ALICIA EN EL PAÍS DE LAS MARAVILLAS. Tim Burton. 2010. 108’ Tim Burton's film is an epic 3D fantasy adventure starring JOHNNY DEPP as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter