She sees what is obvious – and that is why she is mad
Adaptation of The Spanish Cardinal by French writer Henri de Montherlant
The Spanish Fool is an intermedial drama inspired by the historical figure of Queen Joanna of Castile (Juana la Loca), based on The Spanish Cardinal by French academic Henri de Montherlant.
In this contemporary stage interpretation, Queen Joanna, who refused to rule and withdrew into her inner madness, becomes a metaphor of resistance, female freedom, and the price of power.
The performance blends classical acting with digital technology. The character of the Cardinal, her political adversary, appears in the first act as a projected avatar, while the Queen’s fragmented mind is visualized through projections, glitch effects, and sound distortions. On stage, the live performer and the virtual entity confront one another in a constant struggle for truth, control, and identity.
Through dialogue with the virtual character, the actress explores new forms of presence, vulnerability, and resistance in acting, while the stage itself transforms into a psychological and digital landscape.
Duration: 75 minutes
Language: Serbian
Genre: Intermedial drama / Theatre of ideas
The conflict between the Cardinal and the Queen in The Spanish Fool is rooted in their utterly different perceptions of the world and of reality. They speak the same language but cannot understand each other; their inner worlds coexist, yet never intersect.
The “mad” queen rejects power and lives an ascetic life, while the Cardinal of Spain has betrayed his faith for the sake of political authority. And yet, the Queen manages to shake him. At one point, he compares himself to her ascetic virtues:
“She lives in a miserable room… often sleeps on the floor… mends her own clothes… has no desire to gaze upon gold or silver. She eats from a clay plate, without a tablecloth, without napkins. She despises everything that brings pleasure… shows no joy in anything. Her chosen seal bears an imperial peacock sitting on the globe of the earth, with a single word beneath it: vanity.”
We live in an age in which, under the destructive influence of media and social networks, people are desperately trying to appear more beautiful, wealthier, and more powerful than they truly are. In a post-capitalist, post-globalist world where generations have grown estranged and abandoned reflections on the meaning of life, pouring their energies into barren and often self-destructive pursuits, the appearance of a figure like the mad Queen Joanna feels both thrilling and urgently necessary.
Can the confession of a mad queen—just as it shook the Cardinal—warn, provoke, and awaken our contemporary world? For me, this was an immensely inspiring and challenging theme to explore on stage.
Written by Marija Bergam
The Spanish Madwoman is a play about the clash of inner worlds, but also about the ways in which those worlds can be shown, intuited, or merely invoked. The scenography is not a static backdrop, but a fluid space where the real and the virtual are in constant interplay, reflecting one into the other.
The physical presence of a single actress on stage, while all others are displaced into another realm, becomes the starting point for an exploration: what does it mean to be truly here, and what does it mean to be a projection? Is a projection any less real than a body?
Through real-time generative and interactive visualization, I sought to create a world that responds, that breathes with the performance—a space that is not an illustration, but a partner in dialogue.
I was searching for a stage language that does not embellish but reveals, and for a technology that serves not spectacle but experience. More and more often, the illusion of interaction replaces genuine connection; this is why it feels vital to create a space that does not overwhelm the audience with effects, but instead invites them into an encounter.
In an age of endless display and infinite scrolling, art remains one of the rare places where silence is permitted, and where experience is real. Within that moment—even if brief—lies the possibility that something might truly be lived.
Written by Sanjin Ćorović
Henri de Montherlant (1895–1972) was one of the most significant French writers of the 20th century, a member of the Académie Française, and the author of numerous novels, essays, and plays. The Spanish Cardinal belongs to his later works: a philosophical and political drama rooted in historical events, while delving deeply into themes of power, authority, madness, and free will.
Cardinal Ximnez de Cisneros – Slobodan Beštić
Queen Joanna – Marija Bergam
Lady-in-Waiting – Maja Stojanović
Interactive Visuals Designer – Sanjin Ćorović
Costume Designer – Boris Čakširan
Music – Lena Kovačević & Marko Fabry
Associate Director – Nikola Zavišić
Movement Director – Tamara Pjević
Text Adaptation & Concept – Marija Bergam
Poster Design – Goran Dimić
The performance “Spanish Fool” is part of actress Marija Bergam Ristić’s doctoral artistic research at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade.
Her doctoral project, titled:
SPANISH FOOL: Exploring the Actor’s Work on a Role in Dialogue with New Technologies – a Theatre Performance,
blends academic research with the vibrant energy of contemporary stage expression.
The play Spanish Fool is staged at the Bitef Theatre in Belgrade.
A collaborative production by Production Pool, Bitef Theatre, and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, the project has been made possible with the generous support of the Hemoform Foundation.
