Moscow-taught director's Shakespearean revival among Spain's stage highlights

Spanish theatre critics highlight "A Midsummer Night's Dream" among top stage achievements of the season. One of Shakespeare's most philosophically profound plays, it is imbued with existential optimism. Director Angel Gutierrez also designed the scenery, props and costumes for his sensational production.

Angel Gutierrez found himself in Moscow in the late 1930s among the many children evacuated during the Spanish civil war. Brilliant graduate of the GITIS, or Moscow Theatre Institute, he made a number of excellent productions in Moscow's leading drama companies, and many memorable appearances in Russian-made films.

Gutierrez came back to Spain in the 1970s to establish an Anton Chekhov Chamber Theatre in Madrid, which specialised in the Russian drama. The company founder made Konstantin Stanislavsky's and Evgeni Vakhtangov's trailblazing methods popular with Spanish actors and stage directors.

Developing on Russian stage finds and traditions, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has a tremendous impact on the Spanish public-at-large and experts alike. "Senor Gutierrez gave up Chekhovian melancholy for a time to make a sparkling show, in which daring imagination goes hand-in-hand with spontaneity. It abounds in exquisite surprises and delightful follies," writes eminent critic Javier Villan.

"The director's subtle work and spiritual radiance which imbues the production are this season's greatest breakthroughs," enthuses an El Mundo reviewer.

"My entire life and work are indissolubly linked with sublime Russian art. I am aware of the link to this day," Angel Gutierrez said to Novosti.