A script by Jordi Oriol, directed by Xavier Albertí and starring Jordi Oriol and Carles Pedragosa as a performer and a musician.
Caliban (a savage) and Ariel (the spirit of air, represented by music) are the only inhabitants of an island until a shipwreck leaves the wise Pròsper and his daughter, Miranda, marooned there. And, years later, the same fate befalls a royal entourage from Naples and Milan. Pròsper educates and civilises the island’s two inhabitants, he gives them words and the ability to reason; he tames them. He then enslaves them with his power to impose justice and order. This ignites a desire for freedom inside them both and, therefore, a yearning for rebellion. However, Pròsper ultimately forgives the pair, just as he forgave all the other characters. After freeing them, he sails off with the rest of the castaways, and we are left to assume that Caliban and Ariel are alone on their island once again. Isolated, yet free. Free, yet isolated. However, they are now aware of the world that lies “beyond”, which they wish to reach. A world to conquer. With the spoken word comes reason, awareness… and that brings greed and the need to possess. The word is an infection. And the plague… is silence.

L’Empestat is a perversion that Jordi Oriol created from Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611), based on the character of Caliban, and also Ariel. It is a personal and playful take on the classic, with the addition of another significant reference: Albert Camus and his famous work The Plague. L’Empestat is the result of the En Residència project, organised by Barcelona’s Culture Institute and the Barcelona Education Consortium in collaboration with Sala Beckett. During the 2014–2015 season, Jordi Oriol and the Indi Gest Company delivered a workshop at the Institut Joan d’Àustria, the result of which, Tempestant Shakespeare, provided the embryo for L’Empestat. The show went on to win the 2017 BBVA Theatre Prize. And now, the Beckett theatre is bringing it back to the stage as part of the Adéu al cotxe series!