26.09.2023
“La Moderna” Premieres September 27 on La 1 and RTVE Play
“La Moderna” now has a premiere date. The drama based on Luisa Carnés’ novel “Tea Rooms” will premiere in prime time on La 1, La 2, Clan, and RTVE Play next Wednesday, September 27. The daily drama coproduced by RTVE and Mediawan with Boomerang TV’s participation will start airing weekly every Thursday afternoon on La 1 and RTVE Play.
Helena Ezquerro, Stéphanie Magnin, and Almagro San Miguel are the three protagonists of a series that also features Miryam Gallego, José Luis García Pérez, Teresa Hurtado de Ory, Sara Rivero, and Berta Galo. Llorenç Gonzalez, Berta Castañé, and Barbara Mestanza will also join them to head this ensemble cast.
“La Moderna” has a team of highly experienced creative and technical professionals who are ready to give a new impetus to the format with new, carefully staged and technologically innovative daily dramas. Luis Santamaría and Humberto Miró are in charge of the production, while Liliana Bocanegra, Isaac Cantero, Pedro Martínez and David Montoya are in charge of directing. The writing team, coordinated by Carlos Martín Eguía and Joaquín Santamaría, includes Miquel Peidró, Jose Antonio López (Kata), Remedios Crespo, Ignasi Rubio, Juan Manuel Beiro, Angela Armero, Neus Peidró, Sergio Barrejón, and Jose Angel Domínguez.
Introducing “La Moderna”
Madrid, 1930. Matilde is a young woman of humble origins who lives with her mother, Rosario, and her three siblings. She stops by the La Moderna Tea Room, one of the most elegant cafés in Madrid, looking for work and runs into Iñigo, her childhood sweetheart. Iñigo is now a well-positioned young man as the right-hand man of Don Jaime (José Luís García Pérez), one of the city’s most influential businessmen. The passion between the two youngsters is rekindled. But Don Jaime’s wife, Doña Carla (Stéphanie Magnin)—and Iñigo’s former girlfriend—is not about to let them get back together.
The series is based on the 1934 “Tea Rooms”, one of the best-known novels by Luisa Carnés, a highly influential writer of the so-called Generation of 1927. The author was inspired by her own experience working as a waitress in a pastry shop in Madrid. The novel is a chronicle that focuses on the real-life experiences for women of the time.
Set in Madrid in the year 1930, the story depicts a fascinating era as seen through the day-to-day lives of the workers and customers at a tea room near Puerta del Sol: new times, major social upheaval, and, also, room for a life of glamour and luxury.
In the tea room where the story is set, we get a glimpse of paradoxes and contradictions. The opulence of the tea room and the elegance of its clientele contrast with the reality of life for its employees. One of the main strengths of the new RTVE series is how relevant its stories to our present-day context, reflecting of the society of the time with its emotion-driven story lines.
Character profiles
Matilde Garcés (played by Helena Ezquerro)
She is Rosario’s daughter and the eldest of four siblings. Matilde’s objective is to make good on the promise she made her father on his death bed: to take care of the family and keep it together. But she has to overcome all sorts of obstacles, including poverty and all the constraints of being part of the humblest of classes. Matilde starts working at the tea room, where she runs into Íñigo and is forced to confront Doña Carla.
Íñigo Peñalver (played by Almagro San Miguel)
Iñigo has been in love with Matilde from a very young age, and the two meet again in the tea room after years of not seeing each other. From that moment on, Doña Carla and a group of businessmen conspire to make things difficult for them.
Carla de Morcuende (played by Stéphanie Magnin)
Even though she is happily married to Don Jaime, Carla’s goal is to live a life of luxury and abundance with Iñigo, the only man she has ever loved. She sees Matilde as an obstacle to be overcome.
Jaime de Morcuende (played by José Luis García-Pérez)
Jaime is a successful entrepreneur. From the moment he met Doña Carla, he has made his wife and business his top priority. Jaime owns the gallery of shops where “La Moderna” is located, and he runs his business with help from his close friend, Iñigo.
Matilde’s Family
Rosario Martín (played by Miryam Gallego) is Matilde’s mother. Rosario is a fighter and is used to having to struggle to look after her family and raise her children. To do so, she has to confront her aging body, crushing poverty, and Doña Carla.
Luisa Garcés (played by Berta Castañé) is Matilde’s sister and Rosario’s second child. Luisa is a responsible, sweet, and sensitive girl who has a special talent for drawing and painting.
Pablo Garcés (played by Rodrigo Simón) is the third of the four siblings and the only male. He was just a kid when his father died, and he soon learned what it was like to grow up in poverty. But Pablo wants to grow up and become a man so he can earn money to help out at home.
Clara Garcés (played by Cosette Silguero) is Matilde’s younger sister. Clarita, is lively, fun, and cheerful and loves hearing the stories Matilde tells her about the customers at “La Moderna”.
Characters from the Tea Room
Antonia (played by Teresa Hurtado De Ory) is the oldest employee at “La Moderna”. She is devoted to helping her workmates, especially Marta, and is still very connected to her late husband.
Teresa (played by Sara Rivero) is the manager at “La Moderna”. She tries to impose her authority and does whatever it takes to stay on the owner’s, Don Fermin’s, good side.
Trini (played by Bárbara Mestanza) is one of the most admired workers at the Tea Room. But things get complicated for her when her husband starts working at the bookshop across the street from “La Moderna”.
Marta (played by Lorea Carballo) is another tea room worker. She is a young woman from the provinces facing all the difficulties and harshness of life in the big city.
Laurita (played by Breta Galo) is Don Fermín’s niece and works at “La Moderna”. Her dream is to live a life of luxury and travel the world with a handsome man, preferably a Hollywood actor.
Fermín Villanueva (played by Carles Sanjaime) is the owner of “La Moderna” and his goal is to make it the best tea room in the city. To this end, he has to face up to the country’s economic instability and deal with his staff’s problems.
Pietro (played by Andrea Fiorillo) is the pastry chef at “La Moderna”. He emigrated to Spain from Italy after the death of his wife, and he’s hoping his son Giancarlo, an idealist and revolutionary, will come live with him in Madrid.
Esperanza (played by María José Parra) is the Tea Room’s cleaning lady. She is a difficult person who tries to shirk responsibility and avoids making any unnecessary effort, but she still manages to make her coworkers laugh.
Francisco Cañete (played by Carlos Librado) is “La Moderna’s” highly skilled an educated waiter. Everyone calls him Cañete, and Don Fermín knows he can count on him.
Elías (played by Xabier Murua) is another waiter. He drives all his coworkers crazy with his practical jokes, but he’s so endearing that everyone loves him.
The Bookshop
Miguel (played by Llorenç González) is a bookseller and Trini’s husband. They have to keep their marriage secret, because “La Moderna” will not allow married women to work there.
The Corrala
Emilio (played by Germán Alcarazu) is one of the neighbors in the corrala. Although he may look like a loafer and not everyone realizes this, he is incredibly sensitive.
Raimundo (played by Pablo Álvarez) is Emilio’s older brother and also lives in the corrala. Life has really mistreated him, and it seems all he wants is to make it pay.