"Those of us who are dedicated to programming performing arts know that doing it with English companies is very complicated." The director of Temporada Alta, Salvador Sunyer, could not hide his satisfaction at having managed to bring to Girona in this edition the English company Complicité, directed by Simon McBurney, who had never been to the festival and who had not performed in six years Catalonia Complicité will present Drive your plow over the bones of the dead, a piece of ecological denunciation, based on the controversial novel by Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk.
Although it is one of the stars of the international firmament of this edition, McBurney's show is not the only one, in a program where this aspect is increasingly consolidated, to "bring things from outside that, if not, we wouldn't be able to see", declares Sunyer. There are 20 international productions of a total of 99 shows, with nearly 160 performances, including some forty premieres. Tickets with a 15% discount at Entradas de Vanguardia.
At the head of the Belgian company NTGent, the Swiss Milo Rau presents the work Familie, inspired by the real case of an entire family who committed suicide in Calais in 2007. And the German Thomas Ostermeier, the third star of this particular choice, directs the fashionable author of the European theater, Édouard Louis, who signs the text and stars in the one-man show Qui a tué mon père (Who killed my father), where he analysis of the working class.
Among the international proposals, Temporada Alta, which expands throughout the territory, has chosen two to present in Barcelona: The Goldberg variations, BWV 988, by the Rosas company, with the solo of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Alain Franco's piano, which will be seen at Mercat de les Flors. Bach sets the music to one of the twelve contemporary dance shows of this edition. "It went like this", explains Sunyer, who acknowledges that, unlike previous editions, this year there are not so many circuses.
The other Barcelona show is the remounting of La Douleur, based on the diaries of Marguerite Duras. With the complicity of Thierry Thieû Niang, Patrice Chéreau directed Dominique Blanc, which returns to the festival a decade after the director's death. Earlier, in 2008, Girona was the scene of the world premiere. This striking monologue can be seen at the Romea theater. "We're doing it in memory of Chéreau and we're very excited," confesses Sunyer.
Among the productions and co-productions, the new show by Angélica Liddell stands out, which once again makes its absolute premiere in Girona. In this case it is a six-hour text work, Vudú (3318) Blixen, which talks about his death. Rosa Renom and Jordi Boixaderas will read the love letters between María Casares and Albert Camus; Míriam Iscla will read Simone Weil in the cathedral of Girona; and Pol López will do it with Nietzsche's Antichrist, but in this case it will be in the La Planeta room.
As in previous editions, El Canal - Center for Performing Arts will host a few of these shows, with the good news that the management of the room has been resolved with continued activity. Jordi Viñas, the mayor of Salt where El Canal is located, announced that "it had been unstuck, with activities open to citizens, projects to support creation, etcetera".
The director of the festival was "super happy" with this news, but also acknowledged that Girona and Salt lack an open theater, "but that is a matter for the City Council". It is for this reason that shows such as Diptych, by Peeping Tom, are held in Figueres, "because it is the only place where it could be held, and that of the Rosas company, at Mercat de les Flors, the same. A city that wants to promote contemporary creation needs it", he concluded.
