How would you define yourself as a theatre-goer? What do you like, what don’t you like? What kinds of shows do you like? What “hobbies” do you have? What habits? Who do you usually go there with?
I would define myself as a critical viewer, but at the same time dedicated. I think that literature is a great source of wisdom and I love to drink the classics while reading them. The same thing happens to me with the theater. I think it is a great tool to transform and improve the world around us.
I love going to see works that challenge you, that move you, that don’t leave you indifferent. I like drama, social criticism, adapted great classics; but also the elaborate, well-crafted comedy with a moral. I’m not a big fan of going to see monologues, but I have gone to see some comedies that I have very good memories of, like T de tenderesa, for example.
I also like musicals in small and large format. An added value that I value a lot, despite the redundancy, is that there is live music in the works. Not just the voices of the artists, but the instruments as well. It gives it more credit because it has more risk, but also more authenticity. And finally, I like to go to all kinds of theaters, more commercial and smaller ones. Because everything has its charm and because I think that everyone should be helped. As well as to support the new daring and quality baked goods that come out from time to time, such as La Calòrica.
I have a habit of writing down the phrases I like on my mobile phone. Sometimes I even relate concepts from the works to others in my head and new ideas emerge. I tend to highly recommend works that I think are worthwhile, and since I have different areas of influence, someone always ends up going there and we discuss them. People usually ask me about theater and I love that they see me in this role.
As a mania, if there are no seats along the aisle and in the first rows I don’t go to the theater, I can’t stand the poor visibility or seeing the play from afar.
I usually go there with my partner. Although we often go there with friends too. With the family, I established the Christmas tradition that for Sant Esteve we go to Barcelona for lunch and to see a play.
What other cultural activities, beyond the theatre, do you usually practice?
read a lot Activities related to education: congresses, presentations, trainings… We travel with the couple a couple of times a year for sightseeing. And I also really like to train in the area of interiority and spirituality. Nothing about sects, on the contrary, opening my mind to discover new perspectives from different traditions of wisdom to feed my curiosity about the great questions of life with inspiring characters like Victor Frankl, Pere Casaldàliga, Tolstoy, Xavier Melloni, Raimon Pannikar…
What is the best memory you have of a show at the Teatre Condal?
I’m not saying this to be a ball because I don’t gain anything by saying this, but for me the best moment was the meeting we had as the Public Council with Pepe and Dani at the Condal bar. I have been president of the Penya del Barça in my town for 7 years, captain of the football team for many years, now I have been on the school management team for 6 years. I know the headaches that come with organizing events and the difficulties you can face, the pressure, the roadblocks and also the satisfaction/frustration depending on what the results are.
That’s why I loved that moment. Being inside the theater, getting to know the intricacies of the theater, being able to talk to Dani and Pepe and having them explain all kinds of details about the program and the operation of the theater… I loved it. Maybe also because I have a frustrated actor inside me and being there with all of you seemed like another actor… Go find out!
As a work, I remember going to see The Wizard of Oz and enjoying it as a small child, relating concepts that as a child I was not able to associate. I loved the staging, the artists (absolute fan of Mercè Martínez), the light and sound theme, the songs, the interaction with the audience… everything.
What about the other Focus theaters (Teatre Romea, Teatre Goya, La Villarroel)?
I love La Villarroel’s distribution of space. The fact that the stage is in the middle, sunk between the two bleachers, makes you go deeper into the play. The first day I went there was very special. I had recently broken up with the first girlfriend and invited my family to see Woody Allen’s Husbands and Mullers…
I have a bad memory of Romea because I invited the family to go see Puertas Abiertas because Cayetana Guillén Cuervo was coming out and they threw it over my head. They didn’t like it because it wasn’t very commercial, although me and my mom liked it…
And finally Goya, I have very good memories of Una térapía integral. We went with a couple of friends and they found it superficial and we loved it. It’s the beauty of theater, that everyone draws their own conclusions. Then I gave it to my brother to go there with his partner (they are very capitalist) so that they could think a little, but I would say that they didn’t.
What expectations do you have for this season of the Teatre Condal? What would you highlight from the scheduled shows? What surprised you the most? What do you most want to see?
I thought that the Condal had a more commercial, lighter vision of a theater that doesn’t make you think so much. And with the works I went to see this year I have to say that I was positively surprised. Alan for example is brutal, the subject he touches and from the perspective he explains and the main artists are very good. And A particular love was also very good, the twists it has, how you empathize with the boy, the live music and their voices, especially the girl’s, and their moral.
On the other hand, La noche de los muertos vivientes, from my point of view, shows the good work of Dani Anglés as an expert in musicals and shows and the whole show that surrounds the play is very well prepared. But the work itself is loose.
What I’m most looking forward to seeing is Escape Room 2. Even though it’s a commercial, I know we’ll surely like it to go with my partner and I’m looking forward to making a proposal to the school cloister to go see it on a Wednesday or a Thursday for group cohesion. I wanted to propose them to go with La noche de los muertos vivientes, but I preferred not to. A colleague went there and told me she didn’t like it either.
With which 3 values do you associate the experience of going to the Teatre Condal?
Joy/fun.
overcoming
reflection
What is your main motivation for being a member of the Teatre Condal Audience Council?
Everything to do with the theater I love. Being able to go see works for free and also in the front rows is great! I also really like being able to talk to Pepe and Dani so they can tell me details that I would never know without them.
It would be a dream to take part in a play as an extra, extra or say a sentence. It would be the bomb!
What do you think the Public Council can be used for?
It is a very good initiative to create synergies with theater fans and make them part of the process. In addition, these proposals tend to build customer loyalty and increase word-of-mouth. It causes the person on the Audience Council to have a sense of belonging to the theater. To me the Condal was neither before nor is; now I have a special love for him. Getting to know the people in charge, details of the program and the space, makes the Condal theater “more yours”.
In addition, I think that the opinion of the people who form it, without being professionals, can help improve future shows with their constructive criticism.
What do you think you can contribute as a member of the Public Council?
Proactive criticism to improve everything possible, speak up in my different circles of influence. We could also study the possibility of making an agreement with the 26 FEDAC schools to bring the theater closer to the schools and vice versa in different ways.