Pepe Viyuela, who plays Enrique Jardiel Poncela in 'Jardiel in love,' has withdrawn from the production. The Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office has filed a complaint against the playwright and director Ramón Paso for sexual crimes against several young women between 18 and 25 years old.
The play premiered just a week ago at the Infanta Isabel theater in Madrid, with original text and direction by Paso. The production team assures that it learned of the facts when the investigation by the Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office was reported to the press. "I was shocked. I am nervous. I do not think about anything else. I'm shocked," the actor explained to Europa Press after hearing the news, while ensuring that he had not spoken with the playwright. 'Always respectful of the principle of presumption of innocence, we stand in solidarity with the playwright,' the team said in a statement after the definitive cancellation of the show. Ramón Paso is grandson of Alfonso Paso and great-grandson of Enrique Jardiel Poncela, both also playwrights. Paso has a long career as an author and director in Spanish commercial theater, mainly comedies. The League of Professional Women in Theater sent a message this morning to its members to show their support for the victims and invite them to report sexual abuse within the profession. In conversation with EL PAS, Beatriz Velilla, president of this organization, emphasizes that complaints like this are very important because they show that it is possible to report and can encourage other victims to do so. The cast also includes three actresses, ngela Peirat, Inés Kerzan, and Ana Azorn. The latter is also a founding partner of the Paso Azorn company along with the playwright himself, whose representation agency has assured that the performer "always works with him" and that in all these years, there has been "an extraordinary relationship without any problems."