The Murcian María Herrero directs and plays this Saturday in the Romea a judicial ‘thriller’ about the 17th century poisoner Giulia Toffana
Not for less: the Murcian actress and director María Herrero, born in 1983, talks with enthusiasm about what it has meant, both for her and for the playwright Vanessa Montfort, the approach to the figure of a seventeenth-century woman whose personality and history leave no one indifferent, Giulia Toffana – witch? Poisoner? Justice?…–, protagonist of the play that, executive produced by Evaristo Sánchez, also from Murcia, born in 1984, arrives this Saturday at the Romea de Murcia , where it will be performed at 8 p.m.
‘La Toffana’ tells of a virtually unknown woman even in her country, Italy, about whom Herrero and Montfort have researched in depth, even traveling to the Roman scenes associated with her, as the Romans of Piazza Navona and Santa Agnes go to Campo of Fiore. The character is known to have been the inventor of what is known as Acqua Toffana, a poison that was not just any potion, but a sought-after piece that became nothing less than the spearhead of a seventeenth-century pyramidal network. Quite a find: three drops were enough to kill the chosen victim without leaving any evidence behind.
In ‘La Toffana’, a 90-minute legal ‘thriller’, three actresses -Victoria Teijeiro, Amaranta Munana and María Herrero herself- and actor Aitor de Kintana tell a story that raises questions such as: Can a psychopath born of abuse, a vigilante superheroine or the creator of the embryo of the Sicilian mafia in the 17th century?
“Regardless of the motive or ‘principles’ that led Giulia Toffana to confess that she may have been the first case of a female serial killer known to have poisoned 600 men with her formula,” says Montfort, “what makes her exceptional is that that she dared to undertake this venture in a particularly reactionary time for women, that her possible psychopathy stemmed from her own mother’s abuse, and that her motive, at least initially, was to give other women the chance to prove themselves. free from cruel and unwanted marriages.
And the playwright adds: “What is clear is that her extreme intelligence led her to perfect a poison she inherited from her mother, as untraceable as the distribution network she managed to create in the Rome of the Popes. ” María Herrero shares with the author of the work that «Giulia Toffana therefore has all the ingredients of a Shakespearean protagonist, only that she is a woman: political intrigues, murders, revenge, family secrets, betrayal and power struggles. Three generations of women learning to kill to protect their heritage.
“We’re really happy with the audience’s response,” says Herrero, “because after seeing a few beers, this production sparks a lot of discussion, and that’s very interesting.” “This woman’s story is very powerful, a story that could perfectly be a series for Netflix.”
“Directing and interpreting ‘La Toffana was insane’,” he admits, “but I was able to do it because I have a great team behind me that is very strong.” A team that also includes Karmen Abarca (scenography and costumes), Lola Barroso (lighting) and María Díaz (communication).
“I’ve always thought that what characterizes a great theatrical character is its contradictions, that when we illuminate it, parts always remain in the shadows. This also causes controversy and discussion. “To write a monster, you have to understand it,” said my admired Fernando Marías. And that means not judging or justifying”, says Vanessa Montfort.
Source: La Verdad
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