Only by going to the margins can we expand culture.” With this declaration of intentions, five years ago Georgina Oliva proposed the first edition of Katharsis, the most radical festival at the Teatre Lliure. “What we want is to expand what we understand by theater, with proposals that are considered minority. Programming them is a risky gesture, but as a public theater it must be done.”
Until January 20, Katharsis will ask what theater is. The answer will have to be sought in the seven scheduled proposals. “The Fabià Puigserver room will be divided into two spaces, and things will also happen in the lobby,” announces Oliva, who has also scheduled shows at the Espai Lliure, all in Montjuïc.
This week presents Boudoir, an installation where the public attends a boudoir. Steven Cohen, a South African artist living in France, plays with personal objects, very fetishistic, and adds a colonial dimension.
Gaston Core appropriates the Iliad in Before Night Falls, which was already seen in Kosmopolis. "It's an approach to the classic, not a contemporaneization. The aedos of that time are the rappers of today, who debate between hate and love, peace and war".
The Norwegian company Susie Wang performs Burnt toast, a bloodthirsty proposal full of clichés. Trine Falch explains: “None of us have been educated in this type of theater, we are amateurs, and we try to make it as real as possible, using all the clichés. What we do is play and have fun, and we take the audience to places they might not want to go.”
Next week the installation Mount Average, by Julian Hetzel, will arrive, which is a factory for totalitarian leaders. Losinformalls present Something will have to be done, which they define as “dance with spelling mistakes.” Luis García says: “We do things that we don't know how to do but we pretend that we know how to do them. Our plays are like soccer games: we train a lot and on the day of the play we play the game, interacting with the audience.”
Las Huecas perform with their previous show, Those who do not have to die, which is a disruptive piece about the business of death. “It borders on the idea of death, treated from a political point of view, but with humor and following a ritual,” says Júlia Barbany.
And Neus Masdeu will debut a tasting of boquerones in vinegar, with the help of his father, "the last analogue auctioneer of Arenys", explains Seitons artist Masdeu Hello and Goodbye. "We've bought 30 kilos of boquerones, so we don't run out."
Catalan version, here
