About the work
Los pilares de la Tierra is a Spanish musical based on the first volume of Ken Follett's Kingsbridge series, the 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth. The music is by Iván Macías, with book and lyrics by Félix Amador. beon. Entertainment premiered it in November 2024 at the Teatro EDP Gran Vía in Madrid, directed and choreographed by Federico Barrios Fierro, with sets by Ricardo Sánchez Cuerda.
Plot
England in the twelfth century: the builder Tom dreams of raising a cathedral and finds an ally in Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge. Their project meets resistance from William Hamleigh, his mother Regan and Waleran. At the same time Aliena, daughter of the fallen Earl Bartholomew, has to fend for herself and her brother Richard after her family's ruin, while Jack, Ellen's son, grows into a gifted builder.
Cultural significance
Follett's novel about the building of a Gothic cathedral is his best-selling book and had already been adapted as a television series. The musical version was created as an original Spanish production, ran for several seasons at the Teatro Gran Vía in Madrid and also played Bilbao and Zaragoza in 2025.