To pass the time or to unburden himself before whatever might happen, he starts a conversation with his roommate. A man who asked him for some newspapers years ago. The man, Mr. Pauli, doesn't remember the newsagent... The newsagent, the invisible and grey man, with an anodyne life, who spends about 15 hours selling newspapers... who can remember the newsagent?
And so begins 'Compto cada passa meva sobre la terra', a text by Lluïsa Cunillé that can be enjoyed at Sala Atrium. Enjoy, yes, because the newsagent's life is full of stories. The newsagent is not the invisible man no one sees. The newsagent has lived a very intense life. And today, on the verge of an operation from which he doesn't know if he will recover, he decides to tell it to a stranger, his roommate.
The space is very well designed. A bunk bed with a roll of paper, in the background. On the ceiling, a trapezoidal piece that delimits the space and gives depth to the scene (someone paid attention in technical drawing classes!). And lighting that focuses on the newsagent and softens the light in the rest of the space.
Great performance by Oriol Genís and good direction by Xavier Albertí
Oriol Genís, very well directed by Xavier Albertí, is the newsagent. Xavier Albertí has managed to give an almost neutral tone, almost... he has managed for the man to have almost no expressions, almost... he has made the man almost not gesticulate, almost.
Xavier Albertí has taken Lluïsa Cunillé's text and given it Oriol Genís's body and voice, a very successful decision that gives body and voice to the newsagent. A man who speaks slowly. Almost without nuances, almost without changes in tone... but they are there, the nuances and changes in tone are there. But they are done very subtly, so that the text gradually permeates us, almost without us realizing it, until it has us completely trapped.
We discover that the newsagent, the invisible man, we have had him in front of us for years and we have not known how to see all that he can offer us, besides newspapers. We discover that the newsagent has used his invisibility to build a full, intense, powerful inner life.
«There have always been and always will be a few geniuses in the world who open new paths...»
The kiosk owner needs to talk to someone. He needs to leave the world with a clear conscience. He needs to confess. And that's what he does with his roommate, Mr. Pauli, a stranger who will not judge what they tell him. A stranger who is just a passerby in the kiosk owner's life.
«In a kiosk, everything expires and gets old faster, much faster than life, and immediately becomes a nuisance.»
A very profound text
Lluïsa Cunillé's text is a text that, at first glance, seems very simple. The story of a kiosk owner... what could it tell us? But Lluïsa Cunillé has given it a lot of depth. It's not just the life of the kiosk owner, it's not just what he has seen from his privileged position at street level, it's also the context, the history of the world he lives in, of the people he has shared his life with... even of the people he has shared brief moments with in selling newspapers.
«Years have passed quickly, I haven't noticed life.»
'Compto cada passa meva sobre la terra', at Sala Atrium, is an essential production to enjoy an excellent text, a direction that has splendidly given it form and, above all, a performance by Oriol Genís that will captivate you. An essential production.
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