In my time, parents did and we followed them, now it's the exact opposite

Barcelona"I always write about things that worry me and that I am experiencing," says playwright and director Marta Buchaca (1979) to talk about her latest play, A Slap in Time. Practically a year after Kramig, Buchaca returns to the billboard with a new comedy that points to different educational models and the clash between the ways of the 80s and 90s and the present day. "The war I'm having right now at home is with my children and against my parents. In my time, parents did things and we followed them, now it's the complete opposite," reflects Buchaca. From this contrast, the creator has made the heart of the show, which stars Ramon Madaula and Montse Guallar and premieres this Tuesday at La Villarroel, where it can be seen until May 17.

On stage, Madaula plays a grandfather who has slapped his eight-year-old grandson after a tantrum. Upon learning of the events, the school summons the family to a meeting to announce their intention to file a complaint. "Doing research, I discovered that until 2007 you could hit a child for corrective purposes. Since then it has been a crime. It struck me as very strange that there was a law to say that a parent cannot hit a child," points out the playwright. The parents of the child involved, played by Marc Rius and Sara Diego, are strong defenders of respectful education, so the situation directly attacks their values. "He was the son of an absent father and feels that only his mother raised him. He wants to be a much better father than his own, and for that reason he has reduced his working hours and takes on a good part of his son's upbringing," explains Buchaca.

The mother is a woman who works a lot and who does not get along with her father-in-law at all. The grandmother character, played by Montse Guallar, is the one who brings peace between them. "She is a mediating woman, who does not like conflict, and I feel very identified with that. She stays in the background until her buttons are pushed and she explodes," points out the actress. The cast is completed by Eudald Font, who plays the school principal. "He is a man very conscious of the new ways of educating and committed to his values. When he finds himself in this situation, he feels he has to lead by example and make a difficult decision," highlights Font. The play is set in the school's psychomotricity space, in a single scene that unfolds in real time.

"A symmetrical comedy"

Although the show is framed from top to bottom as a comedy, Buchaca also seeks to generate debate. "Although I am quite a fan of respectful education, here I make fun of it and find gray areas. In terms of education, there is nothing that is 100% effective," says the playwright, who plays with the internal conflicts of each character to also create a Vaudeville plot around the play. "I write to ask questions, and as a mother, what has surprised me most is that everyone feels legitimized to give an opinion on how you should do things," she reflects.

For Madaula, the play is "a symmetrical and tender comedy in which everyone is good, but they manage things badly" and raises "the debate on whether education should be authoritarian and with discipline or respectful and with emotional education." The actor adds that he does not know the answer, but that "in the Francoist school, I entered the classroom trembling and that is not good." Buchaca also does not seek to lean towards one side, but rather for the spectator to leave the theater with the idea that families "do what they can" and that there is no trend "better than another".