This world touring production is a collaboration between equestrian Bartabas, flamenco dancer Andrés Marin and four horses. They echo and respond to each other’s presence.
There are not many stage roles for horses these days. I know horses that auditioned for the National Theatre’s War Horse and a recent revival of Peter Shaffer’s Equus but they lost out to humans. There were plenty of roles for horses in the Victorian era; and most famously at Astley’s Amphitheatre where equestrian dramas were all the rage. One of the biggest successes of the 19th century was an equestrian burlesque of Lord Byron’s Mazeppa. There was even a production in 1856 of a much cut version of Shakespeare’s Richard III , subtitled The Death of White Surrey, in which the horse was the leading role.
Golgota is inspired by the rituals of Holy Week in Seville. The props include candles, ruffs, hoods, long-pointed hats, hand-bells, thuribles and incense. There are references to El Greco and Zurbaran. The sacred music is by Thomas Luis de Victoria, a catholic priest (1548-1611), and played on cornet and lute and sung by a counter-tenor.
There is some nifty foot-stamping from Marin who slaps his bare chest and thighs whilst Bartabas rides around. The horses, very obedient, very stoical, stand still, circle, trot, collapse, roll about on the ground and do a bit of Olympic dressage. Golgota might be more spiritually meaningful and thrilling if it was being performed in Seville during Holy Week as a complement to the religious rituals.