This week, Barcelona's theater billboard breathes in a very special way: the 50th edition of Grec Barcelona is about to begin. In fact, the festival's premiere is on June 29, but many venues and theaters in the city are already starting to premiere their proposals adhering to the program. This is the case of the Teatre Akadèmia, the Biblioteca de Catalunya, and the Poliorama which, these days, are already offering the productions that we will be able to enjoy during the summer.
L'Albada by La Perla 29 at the Biblioteca
From June 22 to July 30.
The Teatre La Biblioteca hosts the premiere of L'Albada, a production directed by Oriol Broggi and written by Jaume Viñas. This text is three and a half hours long and features a company of eleven young performers who invite us on a journey to the past. The plot places us in the midst of the euphoria of the '92 Olympic Games, where Alba, a history student, begins a search for her origins that will lead her to delve into the darkest part of modern Spain.
This proposal is presented as a contemporary tragedy that travels through time and space, from the Civil War and post-war period to the Transition and Olympic Barcelona. The play portrays the pain and trauma that are passed down from generation to generation, focusing on those testimonies that cannot or do not want to remember.
La truita at the Teatre Poliorama
From June 27 to October 18.
The Teatre Poliorama also premieres its proposal for the Grec this week: La truita. The story introduces us to a couple on the verge of retirement who move to a small town to open an organic bakery. Everything seems idyllic until one Sunday they gather their three daughters to celebrate the father's birthday. The conflict erupts in the most unexpected way when the middle daughter, who is lacto-pesco-vegetarian, refuses to eat the meat her mother has prepared. This will open a family debate about convictions, empathy, and generational values.
With a luxury cast led by big names from the Catalan scene such as Emma Vilarasau and Jordi Boixaderas, accompanied by Miranda Gas and Sara Espígul, the play is conceived as a comedy structured in three parts: starter, main course, and dessert. Beyond the gastronomic discussion, the play is a funny reflection on love, family, and the human need to try to represent the world without ever taking action.
La Ruta at Teatre Akadèmia
Until July 5.
Teatre Akadèmia celebrates 15 years of the company La Ruta 40 with the show La Ruta. This production is a great encounter between two of the most relevant women in contemporary Catalan theater: playwright Lluïsa Cunillé and director Carlota Subirós. The plot transports us to an inhospitable and abandoned landscape around an old quarry, where three men are trapped on a path full of existential doubts, silences, and uncertainties about the direction their lives have taken.
Engineer Eduard, settled in his father's house after receiving a death threat; Carles, a lifeguard he barely knows; and Víctor, a former quarry worker who fears his pregnant wife will not return, are the three protagonists of this emotional puzzle. The characters face essential questions about the past and the future as time inexorably advances.
La promesa at Teatre Borràs
Until July 26.
La promesa, written by Yago Alonso and Silvia Navarro, and directed by Pau Roca, tells a story that begins at a 90s-themed party, full of alcohol, costumes, and the great musical hits of the era. Everything suddenly changes when Paula, the hostess of the night, confesses to her friends that she has decided to poison them all. This is how a macabre countdown begins where the group's most hidden secrets will come to light.
This black comedy becomes a race against time where the characters must fight to save their lives, confronting their youth memories. The play invites us to reflect on whether we have kept those promises we made to ourselves when we were young. Read our review of La promesa here.
El meu germà at El Maldà
Until July 12.
El Maldà hosts El meu germà, baptized as the feel-good comedy of this summer in Barcelona. Written and directed by Marc Artigau i Queralt, this play uses humor, music, and poetry to pay tribute to family ties. The proposal arises from a simple question: What does it really mean to have a brother? From here, a kaleidoscopic story is structured, made of small tales about brothers who sing, dance, love each other, or broadcast themselves.
The most outstanding point of the production is that it is starring brothers Llorenç and Robert González (members of Els Pirates Teatre), who share the stage interpreting this fiction that draws heavily from reality. Together, they recover the tenderness and irony of that room they never shared as children, mixing memories of a past that will not return with the illusion of the future.
Now you know: this week, Barcelona's theaters await you to offer you laughter, reflections, and, above all, very good theater!
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