The common denominator is in poetic theatre where the energy, the power of image, the voice- through song or speech- and the atmosphere generates a high level of emotion in the audience, regardless of their cultural background, social status or age. The Occidental School, Apollo’s Sanctuary in Delphi, and the theaters of Melbourne, Peking, Miami, Lapland, Sarajevo, Cairo and London are just some of the places that have hosted Atalaya performances.

After working with Latin and Greeks classics, Valle, Lorca, Maiakovski, Heiner Müller, Bertolt Brecht and other contemporary and diverse Spanish authors, Atalaya has begun to explore the Golden Age of theatre, Shakespeare, and “La Celestina”.  Today it maintains five shows on tour of the more than 20 it has produced.

In 1988, Maiakovski´s “The Object Rebellion” premiered — setting their stage in the round with the audience on all sides. It received a surprisingly warm and welcome reaction from the public and critics alike.

In 1990, Hamletmaschine by Heiner Müller was the stepping stone needed to launch Atalaya´s success in Europe. Critics in London qualified it as a “must see”. In 1992, the actors who had made up the company´s first team disbanded.

In 1994 Ricardo Iniesta began to recreate an old project: the creation of an international center dedicated to investigation and theater training. He´d come to call this idea TNT- Territorio Nuevos Tiempos – Territories of New Times.

TNT would become the origin of Atalaya´s new permanent team. It maintained the intenstiy and dedication to research, but through constant development with prestigious international teachers old and new. At the same time, a permanent program was made to train new actors and actresses that has continued in the Lab every year since.

From 1996 onward, Atalaya produced the following shows: Elektra, Divine Words of Valle Inclán, “Exiled (Song For a Century), The Audience of Lorca, Medea, The Three Penny Opera of Bertolt Brecht, Ariadana, Richard the III of Shakespeare, Celestina (The Tragicomedy), Madre Coraje, and “Marat Sade”. Keeping a stable cast throughout, Atalaya TNT is one of the last theaters with a continuous crew in Spain.

In 2003, Atalaya and TNT became part of the European Program: “European Laboratory Theaters as Cultural Innovators”. They were the only representatives from Spain, and participated alongside prestigious names like the Odin Teatret of Denmark, and Teatre du Soleil among others. Thanks to that program, TNT organized the October 2004 XIII session of ISTA- International School of Theatre Anthropology- Directed by Eugenio Barba for the first time in Spain. It was held in Seville and La Rinconada with the participation of 200 people from all over the world and 40 international pedagogues.

In 2008, on its 25th anniversary, Atalaya´s move to the International Theatrical Investigation Center TNT was a dream come true. In the same year, the Scenic Arts Documentation Center publishes the book: “Atalaya, 25 Years of Searching For Utopia”.  As a final triumph, a jury appointed by the Ministry of Culture and formed by important theatre artists awarded them with the National Theatre Prize. It was first time in 51 editions that the prize didn´t go to Madrid or Barcelona.

The creative team of Atalaya has always pursued three distinct goals: 1) intensity: continuous and rigorous training, 2) creativity: the search for and experimentation with the reception of emotion, and 3) ethic: compromise and humility in work and a philosophy of community.

The path we have chosen is neither better nor worse than any other artistic group.  What we know is that – as one of our most beloved teachers, Esteve Graset, (1952-96) said in the words of Ulysses: “No matter how long it takes to get there, no matter the outcome, what matters is the journey”.

The 20 shows that have premiered since 1983 have been presented nationwide in almost 400 cities including: Madrid, Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Castilla Leon, Castilla La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia and Andalucia.

Likewise, we have toured on 6 continents and if we add Uruguay, a country that we are going to visit this year, we’ll reach a total of 36 countries — 23 of them non Spanish-speaking.

Atalaya TNT has won more than thirty awards in the last 10 years.