Who or what deprives us of rest? Who ensures our daily rest? What rituals help us on the journey from wakefulness to sleep? An adult rocking a baby, getting it ready through music, words or movement for the journey to the unconscious, is a brutal act of love. But what happens when we are adults? Where is that hug, that comfort, that letting yourself fall into another's arms to wake up inside yourself?
Shared rest as a revolutionary act, as a transformative ritual, as an act of resistance against this accelerated, extenuated, superproductive, overexploiting and destructively neo-liberal world that sees it as a luxury and transforms it into a business. No puc arrencar-me el cap (I Can't Rip My Head Off) is a celebration of the rest that we are denied and of the festival of care and affection we show each other to allow ourselves to rest.
Because without the structures that allow us to live without fearing threats, that allow us to enjoy rest without feeling guilty, that allow us to take the necessary breathers, this rest would not be possible.
Different cultures have their own rituals and philosophical ideas regarding the concept of rest, such as the Taoist wu wei (the art of inaction), the Swedish fika (the art of taking a break), the Dutch niksen (the art of enjoying free time, of conscious inactivity as a response to overemployment and the acceleration of the modern world) and, of course, the Spanish siesta. We know that rest can take many forms. In No puc arrencar-me el cap we have set ourselves the goal of creating our own.
The lullaby genre is one of our starting points, a trigger whose most interesting aspect is its concept. We reinterpret the lullaby and we celebrate rest in accordance with a modern, experimental sound aesthetic, while scenically playing with our own references and images.
The show is guided by the star of film, stage and television Alba Pujol, who has worked extensively with the director Àlex Rigola as both actor and assistant director. Her musical ally is the pianist, composer and producer Xavi Lloses, who unconditionally explores all sound phenomena in his quest to find the limits of what we understand to be music. He considers himself to be an "antipianist" and even a "sound terrorist".
The show forms part of the Escenes cycle organised by L'Auditori, the aim of which is to support new creation, especially creation that hybridises various disciplines. In this year's edition, it focuses on the subject of Women and Creation, featuring shows starring and directed by artists like Alba Pujol, the audiovisual artist Tanit Plana, and the pianist, singer and composer Marina Herlop.
A Grec 2021 Festival de Barcelona and L'Auditori co-production.
Director: Alba Pujol Dramaturgy: Ferran Dordal Lalueza Music director: Xavi Lloses Stage and lighting designer: Marc Salicrú Movement director: Ariadna Montfort Assistant director and producer: Irene Vicente Performers: Maria Domingo, Maria Lluïsa Baiget, Montse Garriz, Joana Niubó, Mercè Sans and the artistic team Photography: Laura Sisteró
