The solitary and hyperconnected society in which we have had to live faces a change of era. Despite this new era, marked by the pandemic, war, and the plot twists yet to come, the artistic director of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), Carme Portaceli, defends that theater still remains a space in which to be accompanied, feel, and experience other worlds. With the desire to preserve a social ritual that, for now, survives social media and the hubbub, Portaceli has configured a season that calls for awareness and consciousness, but also for joy, relying on the words of Almudena Grandes: "Over time I understood that joy was a weapon superior to hatred, smiles more useful, more ferocious than gestures of rage and discouragement."
In this need to think and reflect on what surrounds us, the TNC will inaugurate the 2022-23 season with Ensayo sobre la ceguera (Blindness) by the Portuguese José Saramago, a work written from his exile in Lanzarote that has ended up revealing itself as premonitory. With dramaturgy by Clàudia Cedó and direction by Nuno Cardoso, this adaptation will be the first co-production with the Teatro Nacional São João, where it will premiere before arriving in Barcelona and continuing its tour through the Portuguese country. A cast made up of Portuguese and Catalan artists will bring closer the story of a plague that spreads uncontrollably and to which increasingly repressive restrictions are applied, awakening the wildest instincts of a society that loses everything from one day to the next. The international quota will be completed with a strong Belgian accent with the company Peeping Tom with Triptych, and Bovary, a show in Dutch directed by Portaceli.
Saramago, who this year celebrates the centenary of his birth, will be followed by Zona inundable, a work by Marta Barceló that will revisit the torrential rains that occurred in 2018 in Sant Llis, a small town in Mallorca, and caused a dozen deaths. Current events will once again be seen in Moriu-vos, a reflection on the abandonment to which older people are condemned, and Bonobo, an approach to what could have been the personal stories behind the Rambla attack. The plight of refugees will be addressed in Sopa de pedres, a children's story about how teamwork can overcome individualism, while a Europe at war and in crisis will be present in L'alquimista, an adaptation of Marguerite Yourcenar's novel, with a translation by Sergi Belbel.
Una noche sin luna by Juan Diego Botto, one of the great successes of this season and winner of the National Theater Award, will finally arrive in Barcelona, after having stopped in Badalona, El Prat de Llobregat, Granollers, Mataró, Viladecans and Manresa. Botto takes over the stage alone with few elements and masterfully interpreting an unknown Federico García Lorca. A heartfelt and bitter work, still tinged by past echoes that become increasingly present. Blanca Portillo will also come with Silencio, the theatricalization of the speech that Juan Mayorga gave for his admission to the Royal Spanish Academy.
The new season will also have space for classics, with examples such as Terra Baixa by Àngel Guimerà. Portaceli is in charge of the direction and signs the dramaturgy with Pablo Ley. "I had wanted to tackle this text for many years," the artistic director of the TNC has acknowledged, as she did at the time with L'auca del Senyor Esteve by Santiago Rusiñol. Under a contemporary gaze, Terra baixa (reconstrucción d'un crim) will move the story of Manelic, Sebastià and Marta away from rural drama, and will be set in the scenario in which Guimerà presented it, the industrial and class-struggle Barcelona of the late 19th century. Otelo by William Shakespeare will be another of the classics that will be present, but with a completely different version that will vindicate the figure of Desdemona through circus and with the adaptation and direction of Alba Sarraute. Momo by Michael Ende will also be present.
So as not to forget the joy of Grandes, MDR will also resort to the circus with three clowns who will question the arbitrariness of justice. Talking heads will bring monologues about three women whose lives have passed them by, wrapped in the humor of Alan Bennet. Lurdes Barba, Imma Colomer, and Lina Lambert will be in charge of interpreting life in its most everyday and authentic moments, talking non-stop. And, if anyone dares to dance, they can do so in Balls literaris, an experiment in which four authors lock themselves for 48 hours in the TNC to write a work for eight hands, in which each scene ends with a popular song, forcing the audience to get out of their chairs and let themselves go.
These will be some of the proposals that will shape the new TNC season, Portaceli's second as artistic director. A total of 31 shows, with nine own productions, 12 guest companies, and nine co-productions with other facilities. Without yet wanting to evaluate the current season, Portaceli has indicated that an occupancy of 55% has been achieved, with an increase in younger spectators. To continue attracting them, for next year, 50% discounts will be offered to those under 35, with tickets at ten euros. For the rest of the public, season tickets are already on sale, with discounts reaching up to 45%.