Monica Dolan, author of this piece, is in fact an award-winning actress who has appeared in film, theatre and television. We’ve seen her in series such as Black Mirror and Talking Heads, in films, and onstage in roles such as Karen in the theatre adaptation of All About Eve directed by Ivo van Hove. But this BAFTA and Olivier-winning actress has also written and performed The B*easts, a one-woman show that was a hit at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Onstage we see Tessa, a psychotherapist tasked with writing a report on one of her patients. It’s a unique case, the most exceptional one she’s had to face in a twenty-year career. The facts she’s confronted with and the treatment to which she subjects her patient will ultimately lead her to reflect on larger and deeper questions, which have less to do with the patient and more to do with the entire world and the meaning of everything. In doing so, the author crafts a chilling tale that puts us face to face with a reality that sexualises everything and turns it into pornography, making even children sexual. This fierce text sparks reflections marked by the author’s dry, piercing form of humour.
The show is directed by Pau Roca, an actor and director who created his own production company in 2013, a company that has brought shows by contemporary authors, often British, to the Barcelona Grec Festival. At the 2017 edition, he directed Tender Napalm; at the 2019 edition, Así bailan las putas, and, at the 2021 edition, Salvació total imminent immediata terrestre i col·lectiva.
A Sixto Paz Produccions production.
Cast: Marta Marco. Director: Pau Roca. Translation: Adriana Nadal. Assistant director: Cintia Ballbe. Sound design: Edu Alves. Stage design: Paula Bosch. Lighting design: Guillem Gelabert. Costume designer: Pol Cornudella. Producer: Pol Cornudella, Adriana Nadal. Social media: Eladi Bonastre. Photography: Kiku Piñol. Graphic design: Edu Buch.
