From October 6 to November 15, the Teatre Condal will host Bons i dolents, the new comedy written and starring Joel Joan, under the direction of Argentine Nelson Valente. The production, co-produced by Arriska and Focus, features a luxury cast completed by Agnès Busquets, Oriol Casals, Nesa Vidaurrázaga and Ana Gago.
It is the first time that Joel Joan signs a text as a solo author. «Signing alone is a challenge. When you write, you face yourself», the actor has acknowledged and explained that the origin of the project was a short piece for two characters presented at the playwriting combat of Temporada Alta.
«By nature, there are no good and bad people; they are human concepts and very interpretable. The line between one and the other has moved throughout history because morality changes. And, above all, we are survivors: if to survive you have to do something barbaric, you do it, and then we take care of turning the tables and justifying our actions», Joel Joan reflected at the press conference.
«By nature, there are no good and bad people»
A dinner with friends, pending debts and a bombshell announcement
Bons i dolents uses the classic device of a dinner among friends to blow up appearances and social conventions. The story features two couples: Ricard (Joel Joan), married to Clàudia and father of three children, who is going through a wild midlife crisis based on sex, drugs and reggaeton; and Jesús (Oriol Casals), his best friend, to whom Ricard owes a significant sum of money that he never claims due to lack of character, to the despair of his partner, Marta (Agnès Busquets).
While Jesús desperately wants to be a father and Marta refuses because she already has two from a previous relationship, Ricard's arrival at dinner makes everything explode when he announces a bombshell: he will be a father again, but the mother is not his wife.
From this revelation, the night turns into a minefield where the roles of victim and executioner are constantly confused. «All the characters have chiaroscuros, there is no one absolutely good or absolutely bad. The question of who is the victim depends a lot on where you look at it from», the author points out.
Generational portrait and comedy as a mirror
The show is conceived as a "naughty" comedy and features the agile rhythm and characteristic humor of the author. But, also, it functions as a portrait of the passage of time and adult frustrations. «It's a comedy that wants to bite, irreverent and unfiltered, but it's also a generational portrait. We talk about being in your fifties, starting to see the writing on the wall and realizing that life is ending. This can lead you to frustration or to decide that you want to live the time you have left to the fullest», Joan remarked during the press conference.
To carry out this proposal on stage, the complicity with director Nelson Valente has been key. After coinciding in the adaptation of Vania, both have created a creative tandem that gives them good results. «With Nelson we have built a very powerful artistic partnership. He is a person who always pulls in the same direction and works without ego, which is a privilege in a creative process», the actor thanked.
«With Nelson we have built a very powerful artistic partnership»
For his part, Valente has defined the production as a direct self-criticism tool for the audience: «We are all good and bad as it suits us, because we all have something bad in us. However, there are also people who are truly bad». Bons i dolents is the play with which Teatre Condal opens the new season and aims to offer a collective catharsis where the spectator sees themselves reflected in their own daily contradictions.
Although the billboard marks final dates, the team has left the door open to extend its stay if the audience's response is as positive as has happened in other productions such as Escape Room and Escape Room 2.