Oct 13, 2006  |  By: PATRICK FOLLIARD  | COMMENTS     

THE SPANISH LEGEND of Don Juan, a womanizer of epic proportions, has inspired artists as diverse as Mozart, the poet Byron and playwright George Bernard Shaw. Now, the infamous seducer, as created by handsome gay Spanish actor Mel Rocher, has arrived in D.C. in Gala Hispanic Theatre’s “Valor, agravio y mujer … Stripping Don Juan,” which is currently open and running through Oct. 22.

“As a Spaniard, I’ve played Don Juan more than once in my career. Ordinarily, he’s the same man: macho, impenetrable, unyielding,” says Rocher. “But this time it’s the legendary lothario with a twist, because I’ve been given the unique opportunity to uncover his vulnerabilities.”

Backstage at Gala Hispanic Theatre’s beautifully retrofitted space in the historic Tivoli Theatre on 14th Street, Rocher describes the title character he portrays in the company’s current production, which was penned by Ana Caro, one of the neglected female playwrights from Spain’s Golden Age (1580-1680). This finely constructed comedy features Leonor, a powerful female protagonist who, in order to avenge her lost honor, dresses like a man and tracks down the lover who abandoned her  — an about-to-be-humbled Don Juan.

Seated inside the long and narrow dressing area, illuminated by bright bare bulbs and crowded with capes, riding boots and crinolines, Rocher speaks as Rebecca Read Medrano, Gala’s dynamic managing director, simultaneously translates.

“Unencumbered by Don Juan’s customary butch stance and arrogant posturing,” says Rocher, “I’m free to stand and speak in an entirely new way. In this work, Don Juan is affected by a woman’s emotions, whereas he’s ordinarily indifferent to others’ feelings altogether.”

A veteran of innumerable classical theater productions in Spain, Rocher made his stateside acting debut last season in Gala’s “Los pecados de Sor Juana.” And now he returns in “Valor,” staged by Gala’s producing artistic director Hugo Medrano.  For Rocher, performing in D.C., though different from acting in Madrid, is not without its pleasures, which include working with a diverse group of Gala’s actors whose backgrounds spread the breadth of Latin America.


ROCHER FIRST LEARNED of Gala while traveling in Peru. There, he met a sister of a D.C. actor who suggested he work with the company where the majority of productions are performed in Spanish with English surtitles. Rocher came to Washington and made contact immediately.

For the audition, he performed a piece from a one-man tribute to Federico García Lorca, the revered, gay Spanish poet and dramatist who was executed by right-wing forces in 1936. Gala’s directors were duly impressed.

“‘Los caminos de Federico,’ [the title of the Lorca tribute], shows many facets of Lorca — it contains multiple characters, poems, pieces from his essays,” explains Rocher. “It’s an intensely dramatic and interesting piece, demanding for both the actor and the audience. Included in the text are all of the statements that Lorca makes about the world, war, civil rights and the environment.”

Of course, much has changed socially in Spain since the time of Lorca, especially for the country’s gay citizens.

“It’s quite easy to be an openly gay actor there,” says Rocher. “Also, in Spain, gay couples can marry and adopt without interference. The right’s influence has weakened considerably.”