GALA Hispanic Theatre has been a hub for Spanish-speaking artists for over 50 years, bringing to our multicultural city stories from the great Hispanic diaspora. The company has never shied away from mixing potent political messaging with high entertainment values, often laced with comedy. GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World is no exception. This is top-drawer stuff, with a leading character drawn from a little-known hero in history and directed with a gentle undercurrent of humor even while educating the audience about a very dark chapter in Europe during WWII.
The play, an original drama penned by GALA’s Artistic Director Gustavo Ott, follows the journey of the real-life Juan Pujol, a theater artist from Spain’s Catalan region, who dreams of becoming an actor in Federico García Lorca’s great acting company. But times are tough, and he is enticed by a job offer to become a spy for the Nazis (who prove to be the highest bidder). This doesn’t stop Pujol, however, from developing a counterspy persona (“Garbo,” after the great screen actress and entertainer) and using his professionally honed imagination and quick improvisational abilities to make up a cadre of imaginary colleagues who keep his German bosses guessing. His ruses work well, so well, in fact, so that he inadvertently demonstrates uncanny artistic prescience of events that nearly sink Allied plans. Somehow, like a great cartoon character, he bounces back and jumbles up new contradictory intel and saves the day in the Battle of Normandy — and so saves the world.
Kevin Jorges inhabits the title role to perfection, moving back and forth in time through the chronology of Pujol’s life and protean selves. He sometimes comes across as a bit of a daffy stooge, at other times a mental gymnast — a perfect master spy.
The other characters swirl around him, enter and exit the stage in quick order, all portrayed by an ensemble of five accomplished actors — Clara Navarro, Carlos Castillo, Delbis Cardona, Geovanni Felicier, and Gómez Amoretti — taking on cameo parts. The play is greatly enriched by the incidental music of Koki Lortkipanidze, a composer and sound designer whose work I normally associate with Synetic Theatre. His music helps establish mood and allows the whole work to breathe and hum.
Carlos Celdrán directs with minimal fuss in terms of set or stage furniture, and keeps the action moving. The show is served well by projections designer Luis Garcia, who provides historic newsreel footage. Celdrán keeps the audience’s focus on the unfolding of the man’s memories in a taut psychological portrait of the artist-turned-spy, as I would categorize this play rather than a thriller.
Ultimately, this is a play about the theater and the power of the artist and artistic imagination. Who better to show us the way and save the world! Garbo plays now through September 27.
Running Time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.
GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World plays through September 27, 2026, at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St NW, Washington, DC. Performances are Thursdays–Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Purchase tickets $25–$50) online or call 202-234-7174.
In Spanish with projected English surtitles.
The GARBO playbill is downloadable here (scroll down).
GALA Theatre is fully accessible, with an elevator and wheelchair seating. Validated parking ($4) is available at the Giant garage on Park Road NW, with additional parking at the Target garage. GALA is one block from the Columbia Heights Metro (Green/Yellow lines).
GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World
Playwright: Gustavo Ott
Director: Carlos Celdrán
Composer and Sound Design: Koki Lortkipanidz
Scenic Designer: Jessica Cancino
Lighting Designer: Haley Roe
Projections Designer: Luis Garcia
Costume Designer: Rukiya Henry-Fields
With: Kevin Jorges, Clara Navarro, Carlos Castillo, Delbis Cardona, Geovanni Felicier, and Gómez Amoretti
SEE ALSO:
GALA Hispanic Theatre launches 51st season with world premiere of ‘GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World’ (news story, August 2, 2026)
