A quarter of a century gives for a lot. In 25 years, the Poblenou neighborhood has changed, but there is an event that has kept its rebellious and territorial essence intact: the Escena Poblenou festival.
From October 22 to 25, the neighborhood will once again become a large stage with 19 live arts proposals that move between theater, dance, circus, performance, and music, all of them risky and contemporary projects that hardly fit into mainstream circuits. The image of this commemorative edition, created by designer Erika Zwiener, shows a sofa in flames: a festive and transformative fire that invites to abandon comfort to go out into the street and let oneself be shaken.
At the head of this adventure continues Ada Vilaró, founder and artistic director. When asked how the festival has evolved since it began, Vilaró is clear: «There is a point of the beginning, of the soul of this festival, that remains exactly the same. We are very faithful to the will of bringing decentralized performing arts to Barcelona and of promoting proposals that, many times, have no place in the more official billboards».
The maturity of a project that "ages like good wine"
Far from losing the spirit of the first editions, the festival has managed to grow without losing its essence. According to Vilaró, the project has learned to «age like good wine» and adds: «We have professionalized a lot in the selection criteria, in looking for proposals that challenge society, that ask us current questions and that maintain a balance with humor, a genre that helps to face daily life and that can go very deep».
This spirit of encounter will be collected in the book L'escena que crema (The Scene that Burns), a project coordinated by journalist and cultural critic Oriol Puig Taulé and co-edited with Arola Editors and Recomana. This publication, in addition to offering a review of the festival's past, also functions as a tool for reflection on the future of the performing arts.
The anniversary of Escena Poblenou will take place on Saturday, October 24, at the Centre Moral i Cultural del Poblenou with a great Cabaret Party that will bring together beloved names such as Glòria Ribera, Hotel iocandi, Comando Señoras, Llum de Fideu, Cia. Miquel Barcelona and the music of DJ Nicky.
Embryos: support for the creation process
The program will kick off on Thursday 22 with the 13th edition of the Embrions call, a space where the public can see tasters of projects in gestation. Vilaró defends that «our job is to promote creators; if along the way they find co-productions or premiere spaces like the Fira de Tàrrega, it's fantastic»
Four proposals will participate in this edition of Embrions. One of them is Cosinart with 600 - El temps dins del maleter (600 - Time inside the trunk), a poetic journey aboard a Seat 600; we will also see Lasombrada with Dia raro (Strange day), a street piece about the fragility of relationships; Adrià Sánchez-Campo will present La presència (The presence), an immersive journey around absence; and, finally, Cicuta (Hemlock) with Margues Blaves, a documentary theater project that starts from the euthanasia of the author's father to celebrate life.
Feminisms at Escena Poblenou
Another pillar of the festival is projects led by women. Ada explains to us that «This space emerged because it is absolutely necessary. There are many women creators, performers, producers or managers, but leadership is often not assumed by women. We are still in a vertical and patriarchal structure that is very difficult to change, where these privileged positions have normally been relegated to a white man».
In this sense, on Friday 23 the festival will focus on feminism in culture. Vilaró reminds us that, despite advances, «it is not true that we are on equal terms in the theatrical field; there is a lot of awareness work to be done». To debate this, the festival will host the reflection table Altres maneres (Other ways), moderated by journalist Júlia Bertran, with the participation of Marta Vergonyós Cabratosa (La Bonne), Ada Vilaró herself and the management team of the Grec Festival.
And, as Ada Vilaró explained to us, «apart from the impulse grant we do with La Bonne, Antic Teatre and Fundació Brossa, we always accompany it with a reflection debate: because if you don't open consciences, no change is possible».
«It is not true that we are on equal terms in the theatrical field»
On stage will premiere Nacionalitat Espanyola: trampes, evidències i fotos prohibides (Spanish Nationality: traps, evidence and forbidden photos), by Maria Solà (winner of the Les Escèniques call promoted with La Bonne, Antic Teatre and Fundació Brossa), as well as Xirinxina, by L'Atapeïda.
«If you don't open consciences, no change is possible»
The public space as a great stage
The festival will also take to the streets and squares of the neighborhood. Because, as Vilaró explained to us, «Escena Poblenou is a city and country project, but it has its roots firmly planted in a neighborhood and a community. Every year we bring together an artist with a local collective to make specific realities visible.»
«Escena Poblenou is a city and country project, but it has its roots firmly planted in a neighborhood and a community»
Among the most notable events is El Banquet de Te Negre (The Black Tea Banquet), by Maisa Sally-Anna Perk (winner of Al Poblenou Fem Performances), a community and intergenerational proposal that invites reflection on colonial memory through a royal banquet.
In addition, the street cinematic project Aquí. Ext. Dia (Here. Ext. Day) and Aquí. Ext. Nit de Llum (Here. Ext. Night of Light) by Fideu, the premiere of Tros by Cia. Sputniks, and the piece Torcidxs by Las Nenas Theatre will be shown at the Sala Beckett.
On the same Saturday, the residents of Poblenou will also be able to enjoy an open swing class with Més Que Swing Poblenou and the queer audiovisual jam AMBIENT RUINED MY LIFE av jam! The community commitment will be completed with exhibitions from Kamchàtka's street workshops and Elaine Grayling's work with students from Institut Quatre Cantons.
Circus, dance, and the family closing event
Sunday will close the festival with proposals open to all audiences. Imagiro by Ambae Company (winner of the performing arts of Can Felipa) will premiere, and Juancaballo, the creation of Juan Berlanga (dancer of the National Ballet and MAX Award) with dramaturgy by Alberto Conejero, will be shown.
The program will be completed with the immersive experience of Hermanas Picohueso (Skai is ful), the irony of Adrian Schvarzstein with The Greenman, and the contemporary circus of Cia. Fèmut with Clam.
In the words of the director of Escena Poblenou, the festival is defined like her book: «The scene that burns, in the sense of boiling, of having that fire in the soul that sparks and creates the necessary warmth to cook projects, but also as a warning sign, to shake and make you move.»
Twenty-five years after that first edition, Escena Poblenou continues to defend that independent culture is more necessary than ever. In addition, so that everyone can experience it firsthand, the festival has launched a special pass this year of 5 tickets for 25 euros.