Our entire world suddenly came to a sudden halt and our lives were put on hold. Despite maybe never having been experienced on such a scale and so globally, the situation is not completely unusual, however. Any situation that involves an interruption to the flow of life ends up breaking the continuity of people’s lives: an illness, a war, an accident… The fissure through which our faith in a secure life and the strength of humanity plunges has been opened many times.
It all starts with a search for the bones of the French Renaissance thinker, Michel de Montaigne, a writer who withdrew from public life for ten years to write his Essais, where he examined his own nature and how life had to be lived. Just when it seems like his mortal remains are about to be discovered, the action comes to a halt and we are plunged into an austere space, inhabited by three female figures and a series of thoughts. A sound drama through which we will hear these thoughts, in dialogue with a visual stage drama, performed in a physical and choreographic language. We will hear, among other things, and sometimes in the original language they were written in, excerpts from the works of Plato, of Montaigne himself, of Pascal, John Cage, Susan Sontag, Slavoj Zizek, Franco Bifo Berardi and Paul B. Preciado, to name but a few.
The show is the result of the union of diverse talents. The first, that of the project’s prime mover, the theatre director and playwright Glòria Balañà who, besides having created her own plays, has directed Catalan-language productions of works such as Steven Berkoff's Decadence, Caryl Churchill’s Cloud nine, The Chairs, by Eugene Ionesco, Victòria Szpunberg’s Boys don’t cry (Grec 2012) and Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine. The director has worked with the playwright and translator Sadurní Vergés, the author of some twenty plays (Els ulls dels altres, Rosa mutabilis, Llops, Sense tu, Com si et tingués al costat, Follow the White Rabbit, Hard Rock, El vespre català, etc.,) and the creator of dance dramas (Lélek, Materea, L’escorça…). The piece is performed by actress Daniela Brown and the dancers and choreographers Marina Fullana and Laura Lliteras, who make up the company Unaiuna, with which they recently presented their latest creation, Hacemos como que bailamos. The sound drama was composed by Àlex Polls, a sound designer and musician with a long career in the performing arts, while the space and images are by multi-disciplinary artist Alfonso Ferri, lighting by Sylvia Kuchinow and the costumes by Marta Rafa, who has received various awards for her designs in several shows. And with Xavier Gonzàlez, from Escenapart, involved in the production.
A co-production from the Barcelona Grec Festival 2022, the Teatre Principal de Palma, Escenapart and Associació Elecktra.
In collaboration with the Fundació Joan Brossa - Centre de les Arts Lliures.
Directed by: Glòria Balañà Altimira Written by: Sadurní Vergés Performed by: Daniela Brown, Marina Fullana, Laura Lliteras Movement: Cia. Unaiuna Sound design: Àlex Polls Stage space and images: Alfonso Ferri Costumes: Marta Rafa Dressmaker: Aina March Lighting: Sylvia Kuchinow Assistant director: Georgina Surià Voices: Alex Brendemühl, Nuria Lloansi, Daniela Brown, Nuria Montes, Sadurní Verges Photography: Aleix Marín Produced by: Xavier Gonzàlez, Escenapart Special thanks to: Anna Maria Ricart
Space
c/ Flassaders, 40
