Laila Ripoll, director of the National Classical Theatre Company: "Fuenteovejuna" hits the nail on the head today.

Since January, she has been the director of the National Classical Theatre Company (CNTC), a position she won after winning a public competition, replacing Lluís Homar , who was forced to resign due to irregular contracts. Laila Ripoll (Madrid, 60), founder of the Micomicón company, former artistic director of the Fernán Gómez Theatre and passionate about the classics, makes her debut this Wednesday at the 48th edition of the Almagro Classical Theatre Festival as head of the CNTC.

She does so with Fuenteovejuna, Lope de Vega's great work about a people's struggle against tyranny and the fierce cry against violence against women, directed by Rakel Camacho, with 19 actors on stage. The play will open the season of the classical company in September, which boasts a strong female presence, with seven of the 11 productions directed by women.

Question: Is your debut as head of the CNTC with Fuenteovejuna a declaration of principles?

Answer: Yes. It's a vital piece and part of the canon. The company hadn't performed it for many years, not since the time of Adolfo Marsillach . Directed by Rakel Camacho, a young woman, I think it's going to be a huge success.

Q. What does a work like Fuenteovejuna teach us today?

A. Many things. On the one hand, it shows the importance of the collective. It's a work that speaks of sexual violence, of unjust power. It's very modern in many ways; it's a love story interrupted by war. It speaks to us about war and violence , and how human beings can turn into beasts if provoked.

Q. A text against the abuse of power, something we're surrounded by in the world today. What's happening to us?

A. It's interesting to see a play like Fuenteovejuna , which tells a story from the 15th century, even though it was written in the 17th, and which can be extrapolated to many of the things happening today. Theater helps us reflect on what's happening to us , when it seemed we were already civilized, but it turns out we're not.

Q. Isn't it disheartening that such a devastating story from five centuries ago is so present today?

A. It's absolutely heartbreaking, but that's why it needs to be re-staged. Rakel Camacho's production is very pertinent, important, and necessary. Fuenteovejuna hits the nail on the head today.

Q. This week, five women and a child were murdered in Spain in just over 48 hours. What can the theater do about this?

A. Denouncing it through works like Lope's, which proclaims this injustice on stage, with flesh, skin, and eyes. We're a little numb and numb in the face of this violence against women, but also with the bombings in Gaza , with the death of so many children. We see the horror, but it seems we're anesthetized. I don't know what it is about theater that, even though it's a lie, reaches us so much more. That's why theater is incombustible; it's a chronically ill person who never truly dies, despite the many attempts they've made to kill him. Theater is increasingly alive and puts its finger on the wound with greater force every day.

Father Fuenteovejuna speaks of the unity of citizens against tyranny. Is it essential?

A. It's fundamental. The problem with Fuenteovejuna is that things get a little out of hand, and they become a mob that ends up playing ball with the commander's head. They didn't have many options, but it's clear that if they had remained sheep, as Laurencia says in the play, they wouldn't have achieved anything. Only when they all unite and stand up to the authorities can they escape the horror they are enduring.

Q. The latest abuse of power occurred at the NATO summit with Donald Trump and this threat to Spain . What reflection does this suggest?

A. Talking about reflection and Trump in the same sentence is an oxymoron. This man clearly thinks he's the sheriff of the world. If it weren't so terrifying and sinister, it would be laughable because he's a grotesque character. The only consolation is knowing that he's as grotesque as he is boastful.

If it weren't for how terrible and sinister Trump is, he would be laughable because he is a grotesque character.

Q: This will be your first Almagro festival as director of the CNTC. What role does or should Almagro play in the defense of classical theater?

A. Since the Almagro Festival and the company, two institutions that go hand in hand, have been established, the classics have been understood differently. Almagro is fundamental to generating productions. Thanks to Almagro, many companies are able to create works and performances that are later seen in many venues. It's also a space for research and creation, which seeks to revisit these texts from a modern and contemporary perspective.

Q. Are these two public institutions sufficiently funded?

A. I think they're valued, but it's just that they're not that valuable financially. They'd need a significant financial injection.

Q. Do classics require special care?

A. It's a very delicate material that, if not constantly cared for, can become dusty again. It's like a delicious food that spoils if not cared for and preserved.

Classics are like exquisite food that spoils if not cared for and preserved.

Q. What does verse offer us today?

A. Modernity and contemporaneity, even though it may seem like a contradiction . We look for things in contemporary theater, and many of them are already in the verse itself. It offers us beauty, emotion, and, although it can also be seen as a contradiction, it makes it easier to understand many things. Sometimes what doesn't enter through the head enters through the heart and emotion, and that's where the verse is.

Q. What do you feel when you read a sonnet?

A. A sonnet is a small work of art, reduced to 14 lines. If it's a sonnet by Lope or Quevedo, it can be poetry in its purest form. It's like a good perfume.

Q. Your appointment as head of the CNTC came after the controversy over irregular payments made by former director Lluís Homar . Was it a bad start?

A. No. I submitted a project to a public competition and won. I've had an excellent relationship with Lluís Homar, who has helped me a lot during this transition.

Q. You announced that you would only direct one play per season and that you would start in 2026. Is this a consequence of that?

A. No. I've always thought it should be that way, and I've put into practice what I thought when I was away. I joined last January, and if I had to manage something in this upcoming edition, I couldn't have done anything else. An institution like this needs time to learn how it works and build a team.

Q. What goals have you set for yourself with the company?

R. To put the institution on par with the most prestigious in Europe, to redefine and reflect on the standards we must uphold and change, and to infuse this company with life so that it thrives.

Never in this house had a woman directed Fuenteovejuna , a play that revolves around a woman and talks about sexual violence.

Q. One of the focuses of your project is gender equality. Have female playwrights been the great forgotten in classical theater?

A. Absolutely, but the truth is, very few have survived. It's interesting to keep searching and see if there's anything else written by women that has been attributed to a particular author. We can't be publishing The Empeños de una Casa (The Empeños of a Household ) by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz every year.

Q. But female creators and directors have also been absent from classical theatre.

A. That's even more of a crime, because there are some extraordinary female playwrights today. Next season, seven of the 11 productions will be directed or adapted by women. Never before in this theater has a woman directed Fuenteovejuna , a play that revolves around a woman and deals with sexual violence. The most interesting thing about today's theater scene is the female playwrights . Among them are names like Carolina África, Beatriz Arguello, María Folguera, Marta Pazos, Rakel Camacho, and many more.

Q. What perspective can women bring to the world of classics?

A. As many perspectives as there are women. It's obviously a perspective that has been taken away from us for centuries. I'm very interested in what they have to say. But not just in the world of classics, but also in other theaters.

Q. Are there many titles from the classical repertoire yet to be discovered?

A. Many that haven't yet been written in this house, for example, El amor enamorada by Lope de Vega, or El mayordomo de la duquesa de Amalfi , also by Lope. There's also a lot of text yet to be discovered by Ruiz de Alarcón or Calderón. There are so many authors from the Golden Age that it's difficult to cover, which is why the canon is so important, deciding which 20 or 30 works need to be promoted, translated, and translated internationally.

Verse offers us modernity and contemporaneity today, even if it seems a contradiction.

Q. The other day, playwright Paco Bezerra complained in this newspaper that Madrid's theaters are controlled by politicians. What's your opinion?

A. I suppose you were referring to the Teatros del Canal, which are under the control of the Community of Madrid, and to the municipal ones, whose directors are not chosen by competition. This theater isn't controlled by politicians, and I know that neither are the CDN or the Zarzuela. I think it has a lot to do with the system for selecting directors, whether by competition or by hand. The courts are mostly made up of representatives from the various associations and unions. It's a public competition.

Q. The long-promised, necessary, and requested reform of the INAEM never materializes. Why do you think this is?

A. It's like opening a can of worms. I suppose it's very complicated and they're working on it.