26 theatrical shows (and one comeback) that will mark 2026

Barcelona2026 promises a wealth of promising shows on the Catalan stage. The coming year will bring a good crop of Catalan drama, with productions such as the theatrical adaptation of Permagel and the story of Mary Magdalene. Among the classics, we will have Antigone There will be two festivals, while international artists such as Paula Vogel, Eline Arbo, and Séverine Chavrier will be visiting. There will also be shows that, whatever they may be, are sure to leave a lasting impression, such as the opera by Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs and the new work by Jordi Oriol. The icing on the cake will be the return of the musical. Soul after overwhelming success.

Catalan Dramaturgy

One of the first premieres of 2026, from January 21 to February 22, will be Mary MagdaleneCarme Portaceli's new show is now playing in the Sala Gran of the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC). Starring Ariadna Gil, the production is a co-production with the KVS in Brussels and revisits the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene to "debunk the falsehoods and reclaim the importance of the character." It will also be performed at the Sala Beckett in January. To cut off one's foot with a chainsaw, by Barbara Mestanza, a bold proposal about professional missteps, abuse of power, and social judgments with the Me Too movement as a backdrop. And shortly after, in February, the team behind the captivating A house in the mountains will premiere SnorkelA new production with mysterious characters and a lake as a meeting point: they will be based at the Heartbreak Hotel.

Among the comedies announced for 2026, two stand out, from the outset, for their premises. Marc Artigau will present his play in February at the Teatre Lliure. A party in RomeA love story about old age, directed by Clara Segura and starring Marta Angelat and Lluís Marco. At La Villarroel, Marta Buchaca will explore in April what happens when an elderly person hits their grandchild during a tantrum. A timely slap Explore education and boundaries in childhood with Ramon Madaula and Montse Guallar leading the cast.

At Espai Texas, one of the most enticing projects of the season is brewing, featuring three undisputed names in Catalan culture: novelist Eva Baltasar, director and playwright Victoria Szpunberg, and actress Maria Rodríguez Soto. The three will be responsible for bringing Permagel –Balthazar's novel—on stage, she will give voice and flesh to the story of that "lesbian suicide," narrated with a hypnotic and dazzling language. It won't be the only show that dares to explore thorny issues. At the Akademia Theatre, Anna Sahun, Elena Gadel, and Ariadna Montfort will headline at the end of January. Floating objects (after the storm)A play about widowhood, written from the real-life experiences of Montse Clotet and Tessa Harry. At the Flyhard Theatre, playwright Eu Manzanares delves into arranged marriages with a show that questions conventional notions of affection, opening in May.

The company formed by Miriam Moukhles and Joan Sentís is based at the Sala Beckett this season, where they have created their second theatrical production. Alphabetwhich will premiere in March. The duo of artists already showcased their talent with NODIO: of dogs and damnedAnd now they have set out to create a work centered on memory, featuring the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and an illiterate man with a written notebook. At La Gleva, Miranda Gas will debut as a family theater author with The Room of HeavenA play full of fantasy and imagination will be performed starting January 30th. Before the season ends, La Perla 29 is preparing a large-scale production directed by Oriol Broggi, which will premiere in June. The DawnA text by Jaume Viñas set in Barcelona in 1992, from which the playwright constructs a contemporary tragedy about our legacy.

Classics

The myth of Antigone will have a special place on the 2026 theater calendar with two completely different approaches. On the one hand, Carlota Subirós will adapt Sophocles' three tragedies to Oedipus & Antigone and will premiere just before Sant Jordi at the TNC, with performers such as Kathy Sey, Moha Amazian, and Babou Cham. Separately, Victoria Szpunberg and Andrea Jiménez have devised a free adaptation of the myth entitled Against Antigone, which questions the meaning of challenging the system today. Actresses such as Júlia Truyol and Clara de Ramon will participate, premiering at the Lliure Theatre at the end of May.

At the Teatre Romea, two leading names of the Catalan stage will explore two classics: Marguerite Yourcenar and Anton Chekhov. Lluís Homar stars in the production, which opens on March 25. Memoirs of HadrianThe adaptation of Yourcenar's book, which premiered at the Mérida Classical Theatre Festival this summer, is also underway. Meanwhile, Joel Joan is performing his first monologue under the direction of the same director. Nelson Valente with VaniaA reimagining of the Russian classic, set to premiere at the end of February. At the Atrium Hall, the production features one of Henrik Ibsen's most emblematic works: DollhouseDirected by Raimon Molins, it will run from February 10th.

Dramaturgy from abroad

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood is one of the UK's most sought-after creators, and two of her plays will be performed in Catalonia next year. In February, David Selvas will direct La Villarroel. The childrenA nuclear dystopia about the world we leave behind and our responsibilities for the future. It stars Jordi Boixaderas, Emma Vilarasau, and Mercè Arànega. Two months later, one of Kirkwood's most recent works will arrive at the TNC. The firmamentThe series, set in rural England, revolves around a woman sentenced to death. It will be directed by Gara Roda with an almost entirely female cast, including Sílvia Abril, Montse Esteve, and Teresa Vallicrosa, among others.

Six years later of the explosive Jerusalem, Julio Manrique will reunite with the English playwright Jez Butterworth in The ferrymanA multi-award-winning play that will bring together some twenty performers on the stage of the Teatre Lliure to tell the story of a group of prisoners during the Northern Ireland conflict. It will run from February in the Fabià Puigserver Hall. Around the same time, Marília Samper will direct one of the most haunting texts by American playwright Paula Vogel at the Sala Beckett. How I learned to driveWith Mireia Aixalà and Ivan Benet at the helm, this is a work about abuse and power between a niece and her uncle.

As for the international shows coming to Barcelona, ​​the TNC will host two. In early March, Séverine Chavrier, director of the Geneva Comedy Company, will bring the stage adaptation ofAbsalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. At the end of the month it will be the turn of the Norwegian Eline Arbo, who It already captivated audiences and critics at the last Grec Festival with The hours, returns to Catalan stages with one of his most emblematic shows, Giovanni's room by James Baldwin.

The most radical proposals

After staging a supposed metafictional ruptureNao Albet and Marcel Borràs have made peace and will bring their first opera to the Teatre Lliure. The show is titled The stunners and will reflect on violence with the pyrotechnics and spectacularity characteristic of the artistic duo, which will premiere in mid-April. Also in the more free-flowing theatrical sphere, Jordi Oriol is preparing his first apocalyptic comedy, The last atomWith Clara Segura, Joan Carreras, Paula Malia, and Carles Pedragosa, the show will play with language and humanity starting May 29th at La Villarroel.

Another of the most surprising and poetic companies on the Catalan scene, Peeping Tom, is preparing for June ChroniclesA piece that will be shown at the TNC and promises to construct a universe made of body landscapes and time travel. In September 2026, Cirque du Soleil will also stop in Barcelona with Kurios, A story about a cabinet of curiosities from which acrobatics, poetry, and humor will emerge. And as if there weren't enough excitement with so much new theater, February will see the return of a show celebrated by all musical theater lovers: Soul It will have a run at the Teatre Tívoli, and will become the first Catalan-created musical that this 1,500-seat theater premieres in Catalan.