Carme Portaceli began the presentation of the TNC season 23-24 yesterday by referring to the philosopher Emilio Lledó, who recalls that humanity continues to ask itself the same questions that Plato already did.
For this reason, the director of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya announced that the new season, the third in which she is in charge of the institution, will be dedicated to memory, to reflect on issues such as "living together, thinking, how to link ideas to reality , feel, what is love, how language can express the truth, if education can improve people, which we already know can, and if the word happiness makes sense”.
The director of the TNC considers that the stories are very important: “They have explained the Civil War to us as a war between brothers, and they have not told us that it was a test of fascism and that it turned out well for them. From the theater we must have our responsibility as artists, so that these stories have rigor and meaning. Sometimes, the story with a capital letter forgets the small stories, which are the ones that make sense. Hearing these stories will also make us more tolerant.” And she added: "Lledó says that lack of memory is a moral crime and a historical crime."
The inauguration will have Rodoreda in the Sala Gran and an addition in the Tallers. On September 28, the curtain will rise with La plaça del Diamant in a version by Ferran Dordal and Carlota Subirós, who will also direct it. The play will premiere at the Grec and is the TNC's commitment to go on tour both in the Catalan-speaking territories and in Europe, thanks to the agreements it has with European theaters.
The following day, in the Sala Tallers, it is Cabosanroque who will present the installation Flowers and Travels, inspired by the Rodoredian short stories of Travels and Flowers and texts by the Belarusian author Svetlana Alexiévich, which has already been seen in Temporada Alta. Rodoreda's words are spoken in Ukrainian by women who have been forced to flee their country's war.
Portaceli will direct a text by Almudena Grandes, which the Madrid writer passed on to her before she passed away. This is Frankenstein's mother, the adaptation of the fifth novel of the Episodes of an interminable war, which is set in the fifties, in full Francoism. Co-produced with the Centro Dramático Nacional, it will premiere in Madrid in September and will arrive in Barcelona in November, with Blanca Portillo, Pablo Derqui and seven other performers.
The Great Room will also host Els Watson in February, which Laura Wade has completed from an unfinished text by Jane Austen. Josep Maria Mestres will direct 18 characters, “a luxury that the TNC can afford thanks to the increase in the budget by the Generalitat, which promised and has done so,” declared Portaceli. In April, coinciding with the Quinzena de Dansa, María Pagés will dance solo the flamenco choreography Paraíso de los negros, where these blacks refer to those who do not write their history.
Jordi Prat i Coll signs the dramaturgy and direction of Els criminals, by Ferdinand Bruckner, which has one of the most popular casts, with Lluís Soler, Maria Rodríguez, Laura Conejero and Joan Carreras, among others. And they return Peeping Tom, who have starred in one of the greatest successes of this season. His new proposal is S62°58', W60°39', the coordinates of Deception Island, in Antarctica.
There is no shortage of collaborations with the theaters of the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands, and with artists from France and Lebanon. In the other rooms, you can see La filla de l’est, by Clara Usón; From Nau Albet and Marcel Borràs, from the actors of the same name; Extinction, of Agrupación Señor Serrano; Amnesia, by Nelson Valente; Andorra, by Max Frisch; Thanatology, by Xavier Uriz; Camping, Pont Flotant; Short interviews with exceptional women, by Joan Yago; and Other forms, from M.A. rayon
The TNC ends the season with 76% occupancy, with the record number of subscriptions in its history (5,634) and 108,634 viewers, "and the season is not over yet," concludes Portaceli.
Catalan version, here
