The Telde Book Fair will host the presentation of Cuando la luz se apaga, the new work by José Manuel Espiño, a retired professor, writer, and environmentalist. The event will take place this Friday at 6:00 PM in the Plaza de San Juan, and will feature a surprise participation from some of the amateur theater groups the book aims to recognize.
The book is a tribute to amateur theater in Telde and, centrally, to the career of Sergio Placeres Rodríguez, who has dedicated his life to this art. The narrative intertwines theatrical emotion with the beauty of nature, taking the reader through landscapes of the Canary Islands and other parts of the world, while exploring the experiences of local actors and actresses.
The book jumps from incredible landscapes of this island and others to the experiences of actors and actresses
Espiño particularly highlights the collectives Jinamarte and Roque Azucarero, both directed by Sergio Placeres for two decades. These groups exemplify the popular theatrical movement that has flourished in Telde, demonstrating a passion and quality comparable to those of major stages. The work also recounts how Placeres's adaptation of Bolero para una mujer, titled Muñequita, was a stroke of genius that allowed every group member to have a character, showcasing his versatility as an actor, director, trainer, and screenwriter.
The book's title, Cuando la luz se apaga (When the Light Goes Out), is a metaphor for Sergio Placeres's vision loss, a disability that led him to step down from directing the groups. Despite this challenge, Placeres has overcome blindness for four decades, and an incident in La Gomera prompted him to fully dedicate himself to theater, a passion he had cultivated since his youth in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
It was hard for him to leave, they wouldn't let him go, those theater groups have been part of his family
The work is also a reflection of the deep friendship between Espiño and Placeres, who have shared a love for nature and aligned in their ways of thinking despite their different professional paths. Placeres, an artist, founded groups like Teatro Kaos in 1994 and Teatro Clandestino in 1998, marking an era of provocative theater. His arrival in Telde led him to teaching at the Universidad Popular de Las Palmas and then to the Municipal School of Theater, where he did extraordinary work. After the economic crisis, he founded TeatroEstudio de Telde in 2013 to keep the theatrical flame alive in neighborhoods and community associations, leaving an indelible legacy in the city's amateur theater.
