With its current base in Madrid, Teatro Xtremo began in 2002 and has since followed a path of constant evolution, establishing itself as a company that combines contemporary theatre, live music, chamber opera, stage technology and critical thinking. In addition to cultivating a trailblazing approach that integrates literature and film with the autobiographical and the political, Teatro Xtremo promotes educational projects with secondary schools and universities that go hand in hand with its creative drive. In this interview they recount their origins, offer insight into the development of their avant-garde, multidisciplinary artistic proposal, and preview several upcoming productions.

 

With its current base in Madrid, Teatro Xtremo began in 2002 and has since followed a path of constant evolution, establishing itself as a company that combines contemporary theatre, live music, chamber opera, stage technology and critical thinking. In addition to cultivating a trailblazing approach that integrates literature and film with the autobiographical and the political, Teatro Xtremo promotes educational projects with secondary schools and universities that go hand in hand with its creative drive. In this interview they recount their origins, offer insight into the development of their avant-garde, multidisciplinary artistic proposal, and preview several upcoming productions.

 

Pain, oppressive contemporaneity, addictions, unrestrained consumer society and spiritual quest are some of the themes running through Teatro Xtremo’s artistic work. The company was founded as a collective in 2002 and is now based in Madrid.

 

Led by playwright and director Ricardo Campelo Parabavides and soprano and actor Ruth González, Teatro Xtremo embraces rupture, confrontation and the juxtaposition of different visual, musical and stage techniques that coexist in its productions. The company has recently joined Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA), becoming the first Spain-based company to be part of the network.

 

“Over more than two decades, the project has morphed from a multidisciplinary collective into an established company that combines contemporary theatre, live music, chamber opera, stage technology and critical thinking. This transformation has been instinctive, driven by a determination to keep ourselves uncomfortable, on the move, experimenting from a place of risk,” say Ricardo and Ruth.

 

Between 2005 and 2015, Teatro Xtremo ran Espacio TX in Jaén (Andalusia, Spain), a hub for experimentation in the Andalusian municipality from which they developed a regular programme—including editions of contemporary performance festivals such as Jaén Subterránea, Alienígenas and Mecánica—as well as training courses.

 

 

“We believe in teaching as a space for shared research, where every encounter with students or professionals is also a way of creating. Workshops, labs and talks force us to reformulate what we do and how we do it, thereby strengthening the very core of our stage explorations. For us, pedagogy is not an add-on but another way—as necessary as the stage itself—of inhabiting art,” they explain of the educational work they have led as Teatro Xtremo.

 

More recently, Ricardo and Ruth served as artistic directors of the festival Ópera a quemarropa, organised by the Community of Madrid and held between 27 June and 19 July 2025. In this second edition, the festival—focused mainly on chamber opera—presented the world premiere of Tristana, a musical version of Benito Pérez Galdós’s novel with a libretto by Jorge Volpi; the Spanish premiere of The Diary of Anne Frank following performances in Vienna, Kraków and Auschwitz; a presentation of María de Buenos Aires with music by Astor Piazzolla; and La Plaza, a collective project for emerging creators.

 

According to Ricardo and Ruth, the festival Ópera a quemarropa “champions risk-taking, critical thinking and the intimacy of the chamber format, with a vibrant programme: established and emerging voices, reinvented classics and previously unseen works that open new paths.”

 

In September, they will direct the second edition of Ópera en Minúscula at Ópera de Tenerife, again focused on chamber opera and “non-conventional stage-musical formats”. They add: “In parallel, we continue touring Tristana—inspired by Galdós and Buñuel, with a libretto by Jorge Volpi—and A solas con Marilyn, with a text by Alfonso Zurro and music by David del Puerto, which have already been seen at venues such as Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and the Auditorio de Galicia.”

 

On their motivation for joining the OLA network, they acknowledge: “At a time of global crisis and transformation, we feel it is vital to engage with other stage realities, learn from their processes and contribute our independent, committed vision. Joining OLA is also a gesture of openness: we want to help build a network that is a space of encounter, care and projection for all of us who believe in opera as an art of the present.”

 

Ricardo and Ruth discuss the company’s history, the artistic and thematic approaches they work with, the radical repertoire they promote and the importance of their educational work in the following interview.

 

 

Teatro Xtremo was founded as a collective in 2002 and has since explored diverse stage languages. How would you describe the project’s artistic evolution over these years?

 

Since its origins in 2002, Teatro Xtremo has followed a path of constant evolution, born of a collective impulse to stretch stage languages through innovative, interdisciplinary practice. Over more than two decades, the project has shifted from a multidisciplinary collective to an established company combining contemporary theatre, live music, chamber opera, stage technology and critical thinking.

 

This transformation has been instinctive, marked by the will to keep ourselves uncomfortable, in motion, experimenting from risk. Our approach has matured without losing intensity: we have moved from text to action, from the frontal stage to immersive installations, from classical theatre to more hybrid forms. Throughout, one constant remains: the pursuit of a stage experience that activates the spectator, displaces them and moves them.

 

 

How would you describe the company’s artistic proposal or repertoire? How do you choose the themes that run through your work?

 

Our repertoire does not follow a fixed catalogue but a creative process rooted in desire, urgency and context. We work with a project-based logic, where each piece is a unique investigation, a singular stage device. We are interested in margins, bodies outside the norm, hidden or suppressed narratives, distorted imaginaries. We choose themes because they affect us deeply, because we need to understand them from the stage. Our work feeds on literature, cinema, the archive, the autobiographical and the political. From chamber opera to musical performance, our creations aim to generate searing images, poetic atmospheres and high-impact experiences. The repertoire thus takes shape as a constellation of works that interrogate one another and never stop questioning the present.

 

 

In your performance LÍRICA+ you integrated classical singing with other languages such as electronics and live video. What possibilities has this interdisciplinary crossing opened up?

 

LÍRICA+ has been a platform for stage research that has allowed us to break the traditional limits of opera and open it up to new forms of emotion and language. By crossing classical singing with experimental electronics, sound art, live video and performance, we discovered that body and voice can inhabit territories beyond the canon.

 

 

This interdisciplinary crossing enabled us to rethink the stage as an expanded laboratory, where performers are no longer only singers but also performers, instrumentalists, DJs, technicians and visual poets. Hybridity has given us the chance to create more inclusive, accessible and contemporary stage devices. We are interested in generating a lyric experience that connects with current sensibilities, that dialogues with digital culture, clubbing, experimental cinema or urban languages, without losing vocal power or musical rigour.

 

You have taught at a range of educational and training institutions. How important is pedagogical work alongside stage creation for you?

 

For Teatro Xtremo, pedagogical practice is inseparable from the creative drive. Teaching allows us to share, question and expand our stage tools from a place of active listening and critical thinking. Over the years we have collaborated with institutions such as the University of Jaén, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of La Laguna, the International University of Andalusia, the Teachers’ Support Centre of the Community of Madrid, the International Institute – American Space Madrid and the Andalusian Women’s Institute, among many others.

 

We believe in teaching as a space for shared research, where every encounter with students or professionals is also a way of creating. Workshops, labs and talks compel us to rethink what we do and how we do it, strengthening the core of our stage enquiries. For us, pedagogy is not an annex but another way—as necessary as the stage—of inhabiting art.

 

 

As new members of Ópera Latinoamérica, what are your expectations regarding networking with other companies, theatres and festivals across Ibero-America?

 

Our incorporation into Ópera Latinoamérica represents a strategic and affective opportunity to strengthen ties with other companies, theatres and festivals in the region. We are deeply interested in networking, the circulation of knowledge, the creation of alternative circuits and the possibility of collaborating with kindred projects that also question opera’s place in the 21st century. As an independent company with a strong international vocation, we believe OLA can be a key space to give visibility to bold proposals, facilitate co-productions and spark dialogue across diverse territories. We want to contribute our experience in chamber opera, stage pedagogy and transdisciplinary creation, while also learning from colleagues who are transforming the lyric scene from contexts as rich as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile or Portugal. Our expectation is to build community, broaden horizons and generate sustainable exchanges over time.

 

 

What projects or productions are you currently working on, and what next steps do you foresee for Teatro Xtremo within and beyond Spain?

 

We have just concluded the 2025 edition of Ópera a Quemarropa, the Community of Madrid’s chamber-opera festival which we direct. This edition reaffirmed its profile as a space for contemporary stage-musical creation, bringing together emerging voices and established artists in a programme committed to formal exploration, the crossing of languages and current stage thinking.

 

In September the second edition of Ópera en Minúscula will take place, a festival we direct for Ópera de Tenerife, focused on chamber opera and non-conventional stage-musical formats. In parallel, we continue touring Tristana—inspired by Galdós and Buñuel, with a libretto by Jorge Volpi—and A solas con Marilyn, with a text by Alfonso Zurro and music by David del Puerto, which have already appeared at venues such as Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and the Auditorio de Galicia.

 

 

In 2026, our chamber opera Lazarillo will conclude its tour at the Teatro Real de Retiro in Madrid. That same year we will premiere Los celos hacen estrellas y el amor hace prodigios, a Baroque zarzuela that represents a heritage milestone: the first Spanish zarzuela preserved with complete libretto and score. This Ópera de Tenerife production will open a space for rethinking tradition from a contemporary, sensitive and free perspective.

 

In addition, we continue to expand links with theatres and festivals in Latin America and Europe, with the aim of extending the international reach of our works and activating new co-productions that broaden our field of stage action..

 

 

Finally, why did Teatro Xtremo decide to join Ópera Latinoamérica?

 

Because we believe deeply in the need to weave horizontal, decentralised and active networks among creators in the contemporary lyric field. Ópera Latinoamérica represents a living community that understands opera not only as heritage but as a field of aesthetic, political and social possibility. At a time of global crisis and transformation, we feel it is vital to engage with other stage realities, learn from their processes and contribute our independent, committed vision. Joining OLA is also a gesture of openness: we want to help build a network that is a space of encounter, care and projection for all of us who believe in opera as an art of the present.