Jordi Casanovas is the award-winning author of play Els Millors Ocasions (The Good Times) which was staged at his little Sala Flyhard theatre near Sants (Barcelona). Directed by Ferran Utzet, the play is a darkly comic example of Catalan noir. Set in a men’s toilet in a train station, Alonso is the TV journalist who is handcuffed to a… Read more »
Tag: Barcelona
REVIEW: The Great Theatre of the World – Calixto Bieito
Catalan director Calixto Bieito’s The Great Theatre of the World is a lavish contemporary baroque opera based on 17th century playwright Calderón de la Barca’s (1600 – 1681) textual “experiment” Life is a Dream (1635/6): an epic contemplation of fate and free will, fact and fiction and the meaning of life in general. Pedro An almost-contemporary of… Read more »
WHAT’S BACK ON? Dubte / Doubt
Until June 9, 2013 … Multiple award-winning actress Rosa Maria Sardà (Todo sobre mi madre, Te doy mis ojos) plays the authoritarian busybody Sister Aloysius in Dubte, a Catalan version of Doubt, John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play from 2004. Set in a Catholic school in the 1960’s Bronx, Sister Aloysius is the strict school principal who sets about destroying the reputation of… Read more »
REVIEW: Vesturport/Kafka – Metamorphosis
Physical theatre troupe from Iceland, Vesturport, present Franz Kafka’s preposterous psychological fable, Metamorphosis. Visually ingenious and pantomimesque, is it deeply cynical or disturbingly shallow? One night only! The play is in English with surtitles above the stage in Catalan. Saturday July 7th, 8.30pm, theatre Lluire. Click here to get a ticket – for web in English and more… Read more »
REVIEW: Pau Miró’s Els Jugadors (The Players)
Prolonged! See it at Lliure – Gràcia between 20th June and 1st July. It’s one of those Barcelona kitchens that look like it was added on as an afterthought. A microwave best kept clear of, a crappy radio, empty bottles of Gin Giro clustering on grimy surfaces with other even less salubrious brands.
WHAT’S ON? Ras Teatre take on The Lonesome West
A Catalan stage version of Martin McDonagh’s black comedy The Lonesome West (1997) was a valiant stab at the British-Irish playwright’s vicious satire of Irish, and modern, life.
Divisions, a play on Oedipus
Formed part of the Mostra Sonora i Visual del Convent de Sant Agustí. June 7th, 8.30pm Convent de Sant Agustí C/Comerç 36 map here At Barcelona’s alternative theatre space Nau Ivanow, local collective Tuvulú presented their latest work of intrigue: Divisions, a sophisticated piece of puppet theatre based on the bloody Greek tragedy Oeidipus Rex. IN PLAY We… Read more »
REVIEW: Can We Talk About This? DV8 Physical Theatre
There’s something slightly aggressive about the title of Lloyd Newson’s verbose dance/theatre piece, on at Barcelona’s Mercat de les Flors this weekend. Like downloading 40 podcasts from BBC Radio 4’s Today news programme then listening to 10 minutes from the end of each, the acclaimed choreographer of award-winning ‘physical theatre’ troupe DV8 seeks to stimulate debate about… Read more »
REVIEW: Delacroix vs Goya, battle of the dramatics
round 2 – DELACROIX French painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) and Spaniard Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) are utterly distinctive artists, comparable in their contrasts. Each applied extraordinary imaginations to dramatic often violent subject matter, juxtaposing images and colours to excite and disturb. In 1826, as self-imposed Spanish exile Francisco de Goya daubed dark demons on the walls of his… Read more »
REVIEW: Goya vs Delacroix, battle of the contrasts
round 1 – GOYA A double bill at Barcelona’s CaixaForum: Spanish icon Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) and his French counterpart Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), utterly distinctive artists, comparable in their contrasts. Each broached grim, often violent subject matter imaginatively, manipulating colour and tone to heighten emotion to make fantastical scenes seem real. Goya, portrait… Read more »