BarcelonaAt the presentation of the new season of the Teatro Lliure, there was more anticipation than usual, because although Julio Manrique took over the management of the theater last February, he has not yet had the opportunity to materialize his artistic project. “A new phase of freedom begins,” Manrique said at the beginning of the show. Before revealing the names that will feature the programmes, he dedicated a tribute to the actor and founding member of the Teatre Lliure collective, Fermi Rexach, who died on Wednesday. He also congratulated the previous management team led by Juan Carlos Martel on the “fantastic” results of the season that is now ending: 87,758 spectators, 2,992 season tickets and an occupancy rate of 81%. “We have prepared a program that is contemporary, open and committed to discussions of our world,” explained Manrique, who announced that as of September Francesc Casadesus will replace Ivan Bennett as deputy director, because Bennett wants “to devote himself to his career as an actor.” And the director.”
The season will start on October 3 at Sala Fabià Puigserver Gavina,Written by Anton Texikhov, and directed by Manrique himself from an adaptation he wrote with Marc Artigao and Cristina Guinebat, and with David Verdager, Neil Cardoner, David Silvas, Daniela Brown, and Clara de Ramon among the cast. Fabià Puigserver can also be seen The hatred by Molière, a production of La Brutal that will premiere this summer at the Greek Festival under the direction of David Silvas, with Paul Lopez playing the hero. In mid-January, Commedia Nacional de Montevideo will land in Barcelona to present the show The audienceThe film is written by Federico García Lorca, written by Gabriel Calderon and directed by Marta Pazos. “The actors of the National Comédie are followers of Margarida Chirgo, and it seems to me that their coming to perform in front of the square bearing the actress’s name is a valuable legacy,” says Manrique.
Josep María Mestres – whom Manrique described as his “master” – will direct the film Inheritance, a play by Matthew Lopez that deals with homosexuality in today’s New York. Carlos Cuevas, Albert Salazar, Francisco Cuellar and Luis Márquez, among others, will participate. Another strong dish of the season is… Lovers heartIt is directed by Thiago Rodriguez, current director of the Avignon Festival, who will present his first text, which is “a kind of two-part song about love across time,” according to Manrique. It will star Marta Marco and Joan Carreras, who will be performing at the Avenue Festival this summer. At Lliure de Gràcia, Carlotta Soubirous will exhibit the piece for the first time Olympia Ahmed Elyounoussi will perform a monologue about his private life, having worked with Juan Diego Botto and Sergio Perez Mencheta. In addition, in June 2025, the theater will recover Categorical imperativeby Victoria Szpunberg, one of the biggest hits of last season.
La calorica, la veronal, and les impoxibles
Catalan companies will have an important weight in the new programming of Lliure. La Calòrica will conclude the Sala Fabià Puigserver season with Deer roar (a unique experience in an incomparable environment), a show about “somewhat neurotic city dwellers who go to the mountains to connect with themselves,” according to Manrique. Sisters Clara and Adriana Pia, of Les Impuxibles, will collaborate with playwright and director Pablo Messés to explore addiction in the play. Caramelwhich can be seen in Lliure de Gràcia, where the dance group La Veronal will also present a new creation, Danse Macabre – Tomorrow is the question.
The program also includes international proposals, e.g Employeesa show about artificial intelligence directed by Latvian artist Lukas Twarkovski; Kill methe new show by Argentine choreographer Marina Otero, and a free copy of village Produced by the Peruvian company La Plaza, directed by Chela de Ferrari, which can already be seen at the 2022 Greek Festival.
As Manrique has said before, one of the novelties in theater will be Ànima Lliure, a project curated by Claudia Seydoux whose aim is to “work with functional diversity” and “put voices and bodies that we are not accustomed to seeing on stage.” “., according to the director. The project will begin with Wonderful Ramon, a Cedó show in which Elisabet Casanovas and María Rodríguez will participate. Another project initiated by Manrique, in collaboration with the Theater Institute and the Diputació de Barcelona, is IT Teatre Lliure, which will produce a “company of young actors” who will act out the tragedy. Electra Under the supervision of Alicia Jurina. Another surprise of this season is that Lliure has signed an agreement with the Embassa’t Festival to integrate DJ sessions after the first shows at Sala Fabià Puigserver.
Reclaim free space
One of the main ideas of the Manrique project is to reclaim the free space as a “permanent exhibition room”. Evan Bennett will direct Kind of like Alaska Written by Harold Pinter, La Bella Otero Company, formed by Emma Arquiluy and Pablo Macho Otero, will continue to delve into poetic theater with this piece. Prosophobia. He will also perform La Ruta 40 with Xavier Bobés, Cia. Les Benes and Jordi Oriol with Now Alpet. In addition, there will be space to restore some pieces that have already been released, e.g Kiwi nightWritten by Josep Julian. the Golden Fishwritten by Anna Agullo Prieto, Anna Sub lyrewritten by Andrea Jiménez, which will feature a surprise guest performer at each event.
Journalists Ana Giart, Andrea Gomez and Kiko Nouvel will lead post-concert discussions and complement the stage show with interviews with the artists, which will be recorded on CaixaForum+. In addition, spectators sitting on stage will be able to reflect on some of the issues raised in the plays during the sessions On sitemoderated by Josep Maria Esquirol, Rita Rakosnik, Bonaventura Clotet, Antonio Centeno, and Marina Garcés.
Manrique remembers cultural journalist Ana Pérez Bagues, who died last April. “She was a journalist with an undisputed track record and a much-loved figure in the entire profession,” the director said. In honor of her, Al-Ahrar organized the participatory table The battle is not over yet: more cultural journalismWhich will be held on June 19, and it was announced that in March 2025 the first edition of the Ana Pérez Bagés Award for Cultural Journalism will be held.
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