In 1967, the BBC broadcast the first satellite program in history, Our world. The song chosen was one of the Beatles, All you need is love, so that an indefinite number of people around the world could hear that song at the same time. Timidly but with a firm step, the era of globalization began. This is the starting point of Love Love Love, the play that the English playwright Mike Bartlett premiered in 2011, arising from the crisis and the subprime scandal.
Bartlett is no stranger to the Barcelona public, who has seen Cock i Bull, in addition to being the scriptwriter of the television series Doctor Foster. Now, in La Villarroel, directed by Julio Manrique and translated by Cristina Genebat, comes this acid comedy, which covers the life of a couple and their children, from 1967 to 2011. The program says that it is “an acid look at the dreams of youth and the lost generations.”
“The Beatles are the standard-bearers of a movement that for the first time is led by young people,” explains Manrique. That night in 1967, the two characters played by Marull and Selvas met. It seemed that the world would move towards something more humanitarian, more beautiful, but from our current perspective we know that things were not like that.”
“Bartlett writes the play as a result of the 2008 crisis because he detects a malaise in young people,” continues the director. Today's young people have not enjoyed the same opportunities that their parents had. "That's why I think Bartlett is wondering why they're so angry."
The artistic team is convinced that the play will open many debates and that the audience will leave the theater talking about what is being proposed. So much so, that at the presentation press conference, director and performers enthusiastically debated and reflected on everything that Bartlett's work represents. “The work presents an acidic, critical look, with a great sense of humor,” adds Manrique. There is also a kind of tenderness, a human and compassionate look.”
Performed by David Selvas, Laia Marull, Marc Bosch and Clara de Ramon, Love love love also involves an added effort of characterization, representing the characters over more than half a century. “In theater it is more complicated than in literature or cinema to accompany a family over time,” declares Selvas, who is also the producer of La Brutal. And Marull adds: “The public is very generous,” in reference to his changes in appearance on stage.
De Ramon describes the generational differences: “We don't have the illusions that our parents had. “There is a big problem with housing and the future is very dark.” And Manrique concludes: “At first I thought that the author was very harsh, but once you do the show you realize that things are not so clear. After seeing the show, you hear the Beatles song and it takes on a new dimension.”
Catalan version, here
