Madaula has written this armchair comedy full of acid humor and stars in it alongside his nephew Jaume Madaula and Estel Solé. He looked for a very Catalan surname and opted for Brugarol: "The Brugarols exist but it is not inspired by anyone in particular." Now that perimeter confinement has become the new normal, this man of theater presents us with a radiography of the textile bourgeoisie of his native Sabadell.
What remains of the textile bourgeoisie? "Less and less. When I was little, the big textile manufacturers were very present. I remember my parents always saying: I saw Mr. So-and-so or Mr. Such-and-such. They were the great leaders of the industry. I had known quite a few bigwigs of the Vallès bourgeoisie. All the textile industry of the seventies and eighties has been converted into other industries. Sabadell was a city of factories. The City Council, the church, and the factories occupied the center of the city. Not like now, where they are in industrial estates. The textile industry had a great impact from the mid-19th century until the eighties, and Banco Sabadell, which was created in 1870, is still a benchmark and its current president, Mr. Josep Oliu, is a gentleman born in Sabadell."
Can we say it's a tribute to the bourgeoisie? "The bourgeoisie does good things and not so good things. The Catalan bourgeoisie is a friendly, believing, and kind bourgeoisie."
Youth versus Alzheimer's
Youth is one of the great themes of this script. "The driving force was the anecdote of when my daughter told me one day that she wanted to take her mother's surname and I felt terrible. I wanted to explain how complicated it is to be coherent; you have ideals and you have to swallow toads." How does he see youth? "I think all their lives young people have viewed older people with distrust and condescension. It saddens me. We could go more together. There is distrust. Despite everything, the world is better than when I was young. I think they complain a lot but do nothing. It's a perverse dynamic; there are young people who contribute very good things. In theater, it's very clear. Young people reject the theater of older people. I tell them about the theater that was done in Catalonia in the early eighties but they are not interested… it's a shame. But I want to make it clear that I get along very well with my daughters."
"I think all their lives young people have viewed older people with distrust and condescension. It saddens me. We could go more together," says MadaulaYouth contrasts with Alzheimer's. "Alsowanted to talk about Alzheimer's: it's a disease I've experienced very closely because my parents suffered from it. I had to take a twenty-year leap in history to justify that the main couple lives with their father. Alzheimer's is very hard."
Above all, people laugh a lot during the show. "My mission is to entertain. People believe that theater has to question, but I argue that life already makes you reflect a lot, I don't want them to reflect... I want them to have a good time." The production suffered from the pandemic: it was supposed to premiere on March 20, 2020, in Girona. "The world stopped, but I think we have navigated the situation quite well. We have performed forty-one shows in thirty-six theaters in Catalonia and now we are at full capacity at the Poliorama."
The production of Els Brugarol suffered from the pandemic: it was supposed to premiere on March 20, 2020, in GironaEls Brugarolcould it spread to other communities in Spain? "It is being studiedif it adapts to other bourgeoisies with their characteristics or if it remains the same. In the case of Valencia, it has already adapted to the Valencian bourgeoisie and will premiere in September with actors from there. There are many clichés about Catalans, but it cannot be compared to the film 8 Catalan Surnamesbecause it is a work made by Catalans for Catalans."
Mònica Bofill directs the show. "The producer proposed it to me and it has been a success. Mònica gave me four touches on the dramaturgy and I think she does a very good job as a director. It is not easy to direct a play in which the author is also an actor. We have created a very good tandem." His nephew Jaume Madaula plays his son-in-law in the fiction. "The character was conceived for him and the production company Bitó liked it very much."
We cannot overlook that Madaula slipped into the Alcántara Family some time ago in the role of Mercedes Alcántara's lover. "I have already finished the recordings, but it has been a fabulous experience. I played the character of Max, but it is very clear that the protagonists are Antonio and Merche, and that she will never go with another man. What has surprised me most is the enthusiasm and the desire of the entire team to defend the series, as if they were starting anew each season. And, specifically, Ana Duato and Imanol Arias put all their effort into it."
Projects? "Long live Els Brugarol and I look forward to the theaters reopening in Paris where my play L'electe was being performed at the Antoine Theater. The forecast is that Paris theaters will reopen in May."