The Cubic Man has received the keys of his new home and, suitcase in hand, he is ready to get settled in his new place. Just as he opens the door he realises of the dimensions of the place where he is going to live from now on: a room slightly bigger than a cubic meter. He is not surprised, quite the opposite he accepts his new situation, so unfortunately common nowdays, and he is ready to get on with his ordinary life; just like any of us… But this turns to be impossible: ordinary tasks like putting one single piece of furniture, making a phone call, organising a small party, watching TV, doing the housework or simply trying to get some sleep at night are not easy tasks for our Cubic Man in such a place. It will be even more difficult for him to deal with the unexpected domestic events which, being mere anecdotes for us, will become challenges of truly epic dimensions for the Cubic Man.
M3 is a 45minutes-comedy show. It is based in live gestural humour, combined with video projections and sound effects.
The Surrealism principles and the Theatre of the Absurd of creators like Magritte, Ionesco or Becket have inspired the aesthetics and content of m3. The show introduces the audience into a kafkian and claustrophobic atmosphere that, precisely due its absurd and surprising situations, will make the audience laugh. Opposite to this retro appearance, the plot, the topics, the icons, the images and the rest of elements used in m3 are totally up-to-date. Houses reduced to their minimum expression, poor quality construction materials, chain production, the mass consumption of products as faulty as the houses they are designed for, the human loneliness and the people barriers to socialise, the different types of violence that everyday are thrown to us by TV and the media -that makes human beings frightened and docile, are all current issues that concern people and make them feel identified with. All this makes m3 a show with a strong and contemporary aesthetics.
The expressive language used for the only actor on stage is essentially gestural, alike well-known works of artists such as El Tricicle () or Mr Bean (UK). The performing work is accompanied by sound effects and video projections, sometimes projected over the actual scene and others over a white blind that opens and closes once and again during the performance. This blind is also the 4th wall of the cube. These projections enhance the story line, suggesting ideas and concepts through visual and sound compositions or acting as dramatic elements that interact directly with the main and only character. All this has been conceived and designed to create surprising situations and dynamism, producing a fresh and original staging
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The stage design is just a 1,5m3 cube, approximately, with a white interior and decorated only with a light bulb, an electrical switch, a power point, a hook as a wall hanger, a door with its knob and its lock and the most different utensils that will be appearing on stage. The fourth wall opened to the public, can be closed with a white screen that can be rolled up and down as a blind. Except from the beginning and the end, all the show takes place inside the cube. All the show’s different scenes occur there, scenes that are not a mere succession of gags, but the reflection of the real ordinary life of our Cubic Man, during a couple of days. Days long enough to nearly finish him off.
In short, the idea is to use a concept as expressive as a man locked up in a cube, from the perspective of the clown. Watching him magnifying his own misfortunes will make us laugh, at first, and feeling sorry and sympathetic later, when we realise that they may well be just the mirror of our own attitude towards our problems. He will give us the opportunity to be kind to ourselves and laugh at our own difficulties… even if they do not take place within a cubic metre.
Fernando Sanchez-Cabezudo as an actor trained at the training centre of the Teatro de La Abadia for three years, learning from José Luis Góme z, Rosario Ruiz Rogers, Mar Navarro, Vicente Fuentes, Tapa Sudana, and Agustín García Calvo, among others. He also attended several national and international workshops: Antonio Fava’s school of Commedia dell’arte (Italy), L’Épée de Bois school with Antonio Díaz-Florián (Cartoucherie de Vincennes, Paris), and the school of the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico (Spain). During his work experience, he’s worked with Alex Rigola at the Teatro de La Abadia in Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Rey ; with Antonio Díaz-Florián at L’Épée de Bois in Molière’s El Enfermo Imaginario, in Lorca’s Bodas de Sangre and Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, and Shakespeare’s Othello ; with Eusebio Lázaro in La comedia de Carla y Luisa ; with Rosario Ruiz Rogers in ¿Qué haré yo con tantos mundos? ; and at the Teatro de La Abadia in Lorca’s La comedia sin título, directed by Luis Miguel Cintra.
Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo Scriptwriter and Film Director. His first 35mm short film (The Leak) , starring Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen), was nominated to the Goya Awards in the “Best Fiction Shortfilm” category. He has been awarded with several prizes for his work in the the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film, the Houston International Festival, the Huesca Film Festival and he has also been in the official selection of more than 30 international Film Festivals (Sitges, Toronto, New York, etc.). Its second shortfilm Mustek, has also received numerous awards all around the world. Its feature film directorial debut The night of the Sunflowers (2006) has been nominated to the Goya Awards as Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best New Actor and has received many distinctions in the Mostra di Venezia and the Miami Film Festival..
Miguel Angel Rodriguez De Cía Scriptwriter and Film Director. His first work in 35mm Sólo en la burhadilla (Alone in the attic) has been awarded in the ZINEBI -the International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, the International Cinema and Television Festival of Cartagena, the BIFF – the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film and in the International Week of Fantastic Film of Málaga. He has been Director Assistant and Director of the Second Unit of the film La sombra de los buitres (In the Shadow of the Vultures) of Leonel Vieira, produced by Acacio de Almeida. He has also worked as scriptwriter for Productions and Globo Media/Zeppelin Television, apart from freelance works in Advertising & Publicity. He is presently directing an HD documentary for Stopline Films, shooting between and .
Get-in time : 2h30 to 3h / Get-out Time : 1h30.
We would be grateful to have someone helping us with loading and unloading tasks.
On stage:
The cubic shaped scenery is 2x3mts ground plan, including a platform or dais, and the necessary space behind the cube that enables the actor’s free mobility and the distribution of props.
The scenery height (without the platform) is 1,80mts aprox. If the stage is ground level, two 2x1mts platforms are then required, with height adjustable possibility, to adjust to the scenery. (Please do consult with us)
Two legs on both sides of the scenery, 2mts wide aprox. (check the sketch below)
A Video Projector (provided by Mr.Kubik) facing the scenery, on a stand (provided by Mr.Kubik) that levels up the projector to the cube’s ground level. It will be 3,5mts minimum and 5,2mts maximum from the front part of the cube.
A direct power line for the projector.
2 power lines at the back of the scenery adjustable and controlled from the board technician (for two Practicals: a socket point and a light switch).
A direct power line at the back of the scenery for a backstage blue working light during the performance. (running light/wing workers)
A spotlight controlled by the board, pointed towards the scenery to light up the inside of the cube.
A spotlight controlled by the board, for the actor to take a bow at one side of the cube.
Two or four stereo loudspeakers adapted to the characteristics of the space.
On board:
A DVD player (provided by Mr.Kubik).
An S-Video or RCA cable to connect the DVD player to the stage projector. Long enough to cover the distance between board and projector (S-Video cable provided by Mr.Kubik).
Appropriate cable to connect the DVD player sound output (RCA stereo) to the sound board.
A sound board with a stereo control channel (or two mono) with fader.
Power amplifier and 2 or 4 loudspeakers (mentioned above) according to the acting space.
A light board to control the house lights, the bows light, the cube spotlight, and the two adjustable power lines in the scenery (with fader).
Contact : for further information please contact Esther d’Andrea (+34 646 600 365 / hestherd@yahoo.es)
