Performing Classical Masculinities and Old Age: Josep Maria Pou in Alberto Iglesias and Mario Gas’s Sócrates. Juicio y muerte de un ciudadano

Abstract

This article analyzes the representation of classic aging masculinities in Mario Gas and Alberto Iglesias’s play Sócrates. Juicio y muerte de un ciudadano (2015), featuring the leading performance of Catalan actor Josep Maria Pou. I will examine the physicality of Pou’s idiosyncratic bodily performance upon the stage in order to discuss how age is construed as a means to reinforce the Greek philosopher’s masculinity, as expressed in his use of rhetoric, his questioning of writing vs orality, and his final acceptance of death.