In the Barcelona of the late 20th century - a city shaken by anarchism, communism, Darwinism and spiritualism - a well-known writer and religious scholar attended a series of exorcism sessions in a flat in Carrer de Mirallers, in the Born neighbourhood. Mossèn Cinto took notes on everything he saw in texts that were never published during the poet's lifetime. In 2014, the poet Enric Casasses also published an annotated edition of these texts, Dimonis. It is a volume of remarkable merit from which cabosanroque draws the most poetic and surprising excerpts: those that are best understood at the present time. It does so in collaboration with artists such as flamenco singer Niño de Elche and dancer and choreographer Rocío Molina, as well as authors, scientists and poets who speak in recordings about the idea of possession.
Dimonis is a sound and visual ceremony in which twenty spectators are the object of a choreography, skilfully orchestrated by cabosanroque, which serves to round out the work. Trapped within this installation - a recreation of the flat on Mirallers street - we will be both passive and active subjects... because what is theatre if not a form of possession?
The production is the second in a trilogy by cabosanroque dedicated to Catalan authors. It takes the form of expanded theatre, meaning that it stretches beyond the limits of the conventional stage. The first was No em va fer Joan Brossa (2016; also showing at this edition of the Grec), the second premièred at the Grec 2020 and now returns to the stage and the last, Flors i viatges, premiers at this edition of the Barcelona Festival. These productions are the creation of Laia Torrents, who has a degree in Industrial Engineering and is studying Music, and Roger Aixut, who has a degree in Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Together they have created a collective that explores the boundaries of visual, performing and theatre arts.
A co-production of the Grec 2020 Barcelona Festival, cabosanroque, La Filature - Scène nationale de Mulhouse, Temporada Alta and Fundació Lluís Coromina.
With the support of the Fundació Verdaguer and the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia
Performances in English: 7 July 11.15 am. 18 and 25 July at 5.15, 6.15, 7.15 and 8.15 pm
Performances in Spanish: 8 July 11.15 am and 12.15 noon. 20 and 27 July, at 5.15, 6.15, 7.15 and 8.15 pm
Further information:
cccb.org/en
Concept, creation, playwriting, direction, sound design, composition and staging: cabosanroque (Laia Torrents Carulla, Roger Aixut Sampietro). Text: Jacint Verdaguer, Maya Deren. Translation of Text by Mayra Deren: Martí Sales. Original music: cabosanroque and versions of Raban Maur's Veni creator and Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question. Sound installations: cabosanroque. Lighting design: Cube.bz, cabosanroque. Video: Frau - Recerques Visuals, cabosanroque. Stage construction: Kike Blanco, cabosanroque. Executive production and distribution: Helena Febrés Fraylich. Recorded participation: Niño de Elche (cantaor), Rocío Molina (bailaora), Enric Casasses (poet), Manuel Delgado (anthropologist), Gerard Horta (anthropologist), Ricard Torrents (specialist in Verdaguer), Carme Torrents (museologist), Lourdes Porquet (virologist), Xavier Rebodosa (virologist), Helena Pielias and Vicenç Viaplana (video artists), Laia Torrents, Roger Aixut (Cabosanroque). Reading of Jacint Verdaguer's verses: Núria Martínez Vernis (poet), Jordina Boix (director of the Fundació Verdaguer). Role of Father A. F. (exorcist): Joan Solana. Thanks to: Casa Museu Verdaguer, the Department of Social Anthropology at the Universitat de Barcelona, CCCB (Barcelona Centre for Contemporary Culture) and Enric Casasses, because without his Dimonis (Verdaguer Edicions, 2014) ours would not exist. Photography: José Hevia.
