The money allocated to culture is always less than it should be and that is why the Free Theater has to make accomplices". These are the statements of Julio Manrique (Barcelona, 1973), a few hours after being appointed the new director of the theater founded by Fabià Puigserver in 1976. The actor and theater director is finalizing the rehearsals of the play Love love love, by Mike Bartlett , which premieres next week at La Villarroel, and took a break in the middle of the afternoon to answer La Vanguardia's questions.
Manrique recognizes the great responsibility that comes with holding a position like this, but he is very excited. "The Free Theater is an important theater in our city, but at the same time I feel that, in our profession at least, we must try to live up to our responsibilities. This theater thing is a game. It's not a banal game, because I always like to explain something, but it's a game and it's good that it's that way."
He does not want to go into details about his project, which he promises he will explain in a few months, but he does advance something: "I structured it based on a sentence by Fabià and his colleagues about what it must be a theater with a vocation of public service, which must be an art theater for everyone. Art at the center of its activity, to welcome artists and give art to society. I thought that this formula could still be valid today, and that it just needed to be adapted to our 21st century coordinates. The project must attract and seduce the public".
Regarding Espai Lliure, which now does not have regular programming, Manrique is clear: "Like others of my generation, I started working as a director there, with La forma de les cosas and American buffalo, when Àlex Rigola was the director of the Free. I think it's a wonderful space and, therefore, I would like theater to be held there on a regular basis."
Although the name of Cesc Casadesús, current director of the Grec festival, has been leaked as a member of his team, Manrique confesses that nothing is closed, that what he presented at the Teatre Lliure was "a statement of intentions", and that he will now set about tying everything together.
Manrique directed the Romea theater from 2010 to 2015, but he has worked in many theaters and with many directors, a factor that gives him a multifaceted perspective. "When I presented my project, I wanted to be honest and said that what I could best contribute came from my artistic background. Perhaps one of the things I've been able to do is work in a team and build good teams. This is what should happen to the Free, inside, and from the Free to the outside”.
Manrique is well known to the general public for his acting career, which has also been enriched by his work as a director. His track record includes numerous successes, such as the recent Les tres germanes, by Anton Chekhov, which he directed at the same Teatre Lliure.
Among the awards that have recognized his career, in which he has alternated between theatre, television and film, there are three Butaca awards for best director, for The Shape of Things (2008), American Buffalo (2010) and The Curious Incident of the dog at midnight (2015). The theater director was one of the candidates who gathered the most consensus among the profession, so the news has been very well received in the sector.
The president of the Free Theater Foundation, Guillem López Casanovas, stated: "We chose Julio Manrique for his outstanding professional experience in the world of performing arts and in the creation of artistic projects. We are convinced that his experience and his abilities will be an added value for the foundation in the coming years and will contribute to further enriching our purpose as an art theater for everyone".
Manrique will begin to exercise management responsibilities from February 1, 2024, at which time the current director, Juan Carlos Martel, will cease to hold the position. Despite this, Manrique will be able to start working on the programming for the 2024-2025 season from November 1.
