The copla is a form of Spanish popular genre of risqué cabaret songs which had its heyday in the 1930s. The lyrics often feature marginalized characters, including prostitutes, sailors, escaped convicts, gypsies, and so on, and have themes based on the “illegitimacy of all relationships outside the recognized heterosexual marriage” (i.e., mistreated women, abandoned children, and extramarital affairs). Because these were stories of love gone wrong, of women who crossed the line of sexual mores, and of men’s honor, they used to be criticized for being old-fashioned and sexist. However, more recently, modern performers have given the songs a new twist by “selecting coplas that vindicate a women’s power, their independence and their passion.“
Once repressed under dictatorship now thanks to Alejandro Postigo, a theatre practitioner and researcher with a PhD in ‘Intercultural adaptation of Copla’. London is about to experience this very queer art form for themselves. He has led and instigated The Copla Musical in which he plays the part of La Gitana and represents HisPanic Breakdown, a collective committed to addressing Anglo-Spanish re-interpretations of culture and folklore.
The Copla Musical is a project developed through years of research and inspired by traditional Spanish Copla (folk) songs that have not seen the light outside of Spain, but now take the form of a contemporary musical in English. The production involves storytelling and musical numbers through La Gitana’s cabaret performances that aim to recreate the original atmosphere of Spanish Copla.
Check out the trailer below but we should warn you that you will so desperately want to see the Copla Cabaret after this wee taster
