Angel Alonso dies, a key figure in theatre and television in Catalonia

BarcelonaHe was one of the driving forces behind La Villarroel, but the name Ángel Alonso transcends that of the theater he helped found. The author, adapter, director, and theater manager died yesterday, as confirmed by the company Focus, at the age of 84. Throughout his career, Alonso premiered 78 shows, combining his different roles, which included 22 of his own texts and 18 adaptations or translations. With them, he managed to draw more than 3.5 million spectators to the theater seats. One production stands out for its overwhelming popularity: The Odd Couple, an adaptation of Neil Simon's classic starring Joan Pera and Paco Morán, which managed to stay alive for more than 2,000 performances and a million spectators. The farewell performance was a Guinness World Record: the 17,000 people who filled the Palau Sant Jordi represented the highest attendance for a theatrical performance.

Director of the Teatre Villarroel from 1972 until the early 2000s, the theater saw the debut of some of the Catalan companies that have gone on to make history, such as Els Joglars, Tricicle, Dagoll Dagom, and Comediants. The venue's relevance at that time was not only cultural but also political. In an interview with Eldiario.es, Alonso explained: "La Villarroel was, during the seventies, the engine of theater not only Catalan but also Spanish; we were the gateway to the public for companies from Madrid and other cities that could not premiere due to the suffocating Francoism that prevailed." Years later, Alonso premiered another of his great successes there, the adaptation of Ivà's comic Historias de la puta mili, which reached half a million spectators in the five years it was running.

Beyond his theatrical work, Alonso worked between 1974 and 1994 as a film screenwriter, director, and producer at Radiotelevisión Española. He left the company with more than 200 programs produced from Catalonia and, in addition to his dramatic series, the name that will always accompany him is that of the children's program Planeta imaginari, which marked an era for its universe rich in symbolism and its careful staging with elements that were both basic and accessible to children.