Lola: The Life of Lola Montez

This article is from 2009.

Biographical flamenco drama

During the 19th century, Irish-born Lola Montez plied a career as an unlikely Spanish dancer across Europe, Australia and the US while bedding the likes of King Ludwig I of Bavaria along the way. Her story is one of scandal and celebrity. ‘Lola is a woman of enduring interest,’ says Trestle’s artistic director, Emily Gray. ‘She dared to travel alone, speak her mind, create a persona and sell it to the world. The show visits her moments of glory and despair on stage, in bedrooms, at royal courts and at sea. She died alone in New York aged 38, haunted by the cost of celebrity.’

A collaboration with Barcelona-based Increpación Danza, Lola has four performers delivering these moments through theatre and flamenco, against a rich backdrop of guitar and rhythm, played by Fringe regular, Ricardo Garcia. Montez wasn’t a great technical dancer, but she compensated with her passion and personality – which forms the driving force behind this drama. ‘We want our audience to experience what it might have been like to be in her presence for an hour,’ says Gray. ‘It’ll be hilarious, inspiring, emotional, messy and tragic.’ (Susan Wright)

New Town Theatre, 0844 477 1000, 11–30 Aug (not 17, 24), 6.45pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10). Previews 9 & 10 Aug, £7.

This article is from 2009.

More: Theatre, Music, Dance, Contemporary dance, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Festivals, Fringe, Increpación Danza, Lola: The Life of Lola Montez

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