Juan Carlos Martel, who will close Teatre Lliure next winter, presented today his fifth season with great theatrical proposals. "We want the 23-24th to be the season of the feeling of belonging. The irruption of the extreme right in our governments is not an anecdotal fact, it is happening all over Europe. That's why theaters can't forget the critical spirit".
With this aim in mind, the next season will be under the slogan El brogit collectiu, with a high presence of choral shows. Martel restates the Yerma that he set up with scenography by Frederic Amat and music by Raül Refree, with whom he will close the season in June 2024, when he will no longer be the director, with a version of The Odyssey, based on the 24 Homeric cantos .
Those in charge of inaugurating the course in September in the Fabià Puigserver room will be the Belgian anarchist collective FC Bergman, with 300 x 50 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 cm, which are the measurements attributed to Noah's ark in cubits, the history of a group of people who reflect on what a community is.
It will be followed by La nostra ciutat, by Thorton Wilder, with drama by Llàtzer Garcia and direction by Ferran Utzet, who explains: “Every evening is performed in some city in the United States. It is the story of a community and Wilder manages to do this very complicated thing of describing the life of a population of two thousand inhabitants”. The Lliure production will have 17 performers. (11/X-12/XI)
A group of young Chileans from Teatro La Re-Sentida will address the new masculinities in The possibility of tenderness, by Marco Layera and Carolina de la Maza. (23-25/XI)
Baró d'Evel will return with the extraordinary Falaise (30/XI-10/XII) and Pau Carrió will be responsible for playing it with the most beastly Shakespeare, Macbeth. "The work continues to scare me, it makes me tremble every time I work on it. It is the fear that makes us what is within reach of our hands", says Carrió, who has a luxurious cast, led by Julio Manrique and Laia Marull. (14/II-17/III)
Coming in March is Susanne Kennedy's philosophical virtual reality (VR) installation I am (III/20-III/28), and a polyphony of Ukrainian refugee mothers trying to imagine a world without wars at Mothers. A song for a war time', by the Polish Marta Górnicka. (27-28/III)
Another strong dish will be Iphigènia, adapted by Albert Arribas and directed by Alicia Gorina, based on the tragedies of Euripides. Pere Arquillué and Emma Vilarasau "will split into parents and children, because the proposal is the generational inheritance of violence", says Gorina. (24/IV-26/V)
At Lliure de Gràcia, La Calòrica will premiere its new show, Le congrès ne marche pas, with dramaturgy by Joan Yago and direction by Israel Solà: "It is about the Congress of Vienna, the great celebration of absolutism after the French Revolution There were nine months of festivities. It is a show in many languages. Let's put aside the word a little, with music constantly, but the comedy of La Calòrica will also come out". (20/IX-22/X)
Based on the work of Mercè Rodoreda, Lucía Miranda will present a reflection on the stories in The night we killed the wolves, because "what happens when we kill the wolf?" asks the creator and director. (1-11/XI)
Marilia Samper will direct El cine, by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker. "Young people lose hope very soon and the play deals with their problems, but with a lot of humor, with three actors who work there doing all the jobs of the movie theater. (29/XI-17/XII)
Mario Gas will direct Casares - Camus: a love story, adapted by Rosa Renom from the correspondence between the actress and the writer, who interprets it with Jordi Boixaderas. "They explained everything by letter," declares Renom. It is a co-production with Temporada Alta. (2-21/I)
Indi Gest will premiere Sísif fa no fa, by Jordi Oriol, with the pianist and artist Carles Pedragosa as the sole performer. "He will free himself from the stone through art", says the author and director of this co-production with Temporada Alta. (25/I-11/II)
Victoria Szpunberg is also the author and director of The categorical imperative, with a cast led by Àgata Roca: "An ethics teacher goes from the categorical imperative to the king of retaliation, to revenge, through the relationship with the men" (28/II-24/III)
The monumental novel El día del Watusi, by Francisco Casavella, has found someone to adapt and direct it. This titan is Iván Morales: "For me it is a chronicle of the transition in Barcelona from the point of view of the extras". The play is co-produced by Los Montoya and Teatre Lliure. (10/IV-5/V)
The Galician company Chévere returns with Proyecto Helen Keller, an idea of Chusa Pérez, directed by Xron Chévere, based on this deaf and blind woman. "They are rebellious women who broke their silence", says Chusa. (9-19/V)
Lliure de Gràcia will close its season with Portrait of the dead artist, by Davide Carnevali, a co-production with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano: "Violence manifests itself in various forms and there is always the risk that it will manifest itself again. The show adapts to each city where it is performed", explains the author and director. (5-16/VI)
The season is completed with the proposals of the Free Space, in addition to the educational and residence activities. The price of the ticket rises to €32, for the first time since 2013. The subscriptions maintain the price (the one for 10 shows is worth €150) and for the own productions, Tuesday is created as the day of the spectator, at 50%.
The balance of the season that is now ending is quite positive, with an occupation of 74%, with an average age of 45. In the four years of his tenure, Martel has managed to more than triple the educational activities (163) and has gained an average of 9,000 spectators each season. The most watched show was Tots eren fillis meus, with 98.4% occupancy, which could not be renewed due to schedule problems of the artistic team.
"Some of the works of this season that is now ending will be historical theatrical references. I'm very proud of how we got out of the crises we're going through, and I'm especially proud of it", concluded the director of the Teatre Lliure, Juan Carlos Martel.
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