J.B. Priestley never denied the influence of Antón Chekhov in his work, especially in El temps i els Conway, the work that opens this Thursday at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya with a new production directed by Àngel Llàcer. A production of this magnitude can only be assumed by a theater like this, admits Llàcer, who had been pursuing this dream for years.
With ten performers on stage, Màrcia Cisteró, Mrs. Conway, is the only role that the director was clear about from the first moment. Alongside him, Júlia Bonjoch, Biel Duran, Bárbara Roig, Carles Roig, Albert Triola, Júlia Truyol, Mar Ulldemolins, Ferran Vilajosana and Roser Vilajosana give life to that well-to-do English family from Yorkshire in two moments of the 20th century, at the end of the First and Second World War.
In the presentation with the director of the TNC, Carme Portaceli, there was a preferred place for the translator, Joan Sellent, who was honored last week at the Critic of the Performing Arts awards.
Sellent, who is retired, confesses that he only does a few sporadic translations and for this reason, when he received the call to translate El temps i els Conway, at first he said no, but after two minutes it was he who called: "If you still don't you have given it to no one, yes I will translate it. He is a Priestley”.
Llàcer celebrates the ingenuity of Sellent's version, and the commitment of the editing to the language is evident in the words of the translator: "Something that had never happened to me has happened to me, and that is that they missed me in the passes”.
"The fact that the work occurs in two historical moments separated by two decades means that the age of the performers is not relevant, because they have to be characterized twenty years apart," explains Llàcer, who reveals that some of these transformations They are done live on stage.
The wardrobe, the responsibility of Míriam Compte, "is like Downton Abbey", says the director, and Mar Ulldemolins confesses a small tribute to the production directed by Mario Gas: "On the dress I have an embroidery on each shoulder that had belonged to Montserrat Carulla" .
Llàcer feels supported by Gas and Portaceli, whom he considers his teachers. “I asked Mario for permission and he told me: ‘You will do worse than me, but do it. I think we do it neither better nor worse, but differently”. The director refers that the play "has a very depressing tone", because the family's expectations are not met, but he has tried that, when the play is over, the public will take a good memory.
“In the end, it becomes a positive work, because we mix the theatrical fact. The work gives you a punch, but I come out positive because I have the reins of my life and I will do what I want to do. We are looking forward to Thursday to show you what we have done, ”she declares.
El temps i els Conway lasts 130 minutes, with no breaks between the acts, and will be performed in the Sala Gran del TNC until May 21. Portaceli reports that 60% of the tickets have already been sold.
Catalan version, here
