A new festival will bring major international shows to Barcelona in October.

BarcelonaFrom October 21 to November 2, Barcelona will host a new festival that will bring major international shows to the Catalan capital. Dante's Voices, by Toni Servillo; The whole time, by Romina Paula; To move in time, from Forced Entertainment; Measure for measure, by Gabriel Chamé Buendia; Phaedrus!, by François Gremaud; Fatal Coup, by Alain Platel, and Double bill, by the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. The productions will be performed at the Teatre Lliure, La Villarroel, the Mercat de les Flors, the Joan Brossa Foundation, and the Teatro La Biblioteca. In the Catalan capital, "sometimes due to technical necessity, other times because we wanted to show things in Barcelona," says the director of Temporada Alta, Narcís Puig. The desire to remedy this.

A unique theater space in Barcelona

Flash de Otoño is supported by the Generalitat (Catalan government) and Barcelona City Council (each of which contributes €200,000) and has been conceived as "an international performing arts venue that will distinguish Barcelona with its own program and remain forever in the city," emphasizes the Councilor for Culture and Creative Industries of the Barcelona City Council and Xa Festival de Otoño, which brought international shows to Barcelona in the 1980s and 1990s. "At a time when it was difficult to see international theater, these programs allowed us to see what was happening in Europe. They marked a generation theatrically," notes the councilor.

Although it will coincide with the Temporada Alta festival, Flash de Otoño does not intend to take away from the programming at the Girona festival, nor at the Grec. "It was possible if it fit well into the theatrical ecosystem. Barcelona doesn't have just one part of the Temporada Alta, but rather the desire is to add to it," explains Xavier Fina, director of Cultural Promotion and Libraries for the Generalitat (Catalan Government). Marcé adds that the festival is "an operation with commercial and business risk" and that, in terms of economic viability, "the Temporada Alta assumes a perspective of ticket sales and sponsorship and requests public aid, like other projects in the city."

Regarding the programming, Puig highlights Fatal Coup, by Alain Platel, a revamped version of the show of the same name that combines baroque music and African rhythms. It will also be seen for the first time in Catalonia. The whole time, by Romina Paula –"One of the best shows of independent Argentine theater in recent decades," says Puig–, and Toni Servillo with Dante's Voices, in which the Italian artist wears the Divine Comedy in contemporary times.

In the more experimental field they have programmed To move in time, from Forced Entertainment, and Phaedrus!, by François Gremaud, an interpretation of Phaedra which is, according to Puig, "a French Jordi Oriol, full of wordplay" and which will be subtitled. Completing the program Measure for measure, by Argentina's most popular clown Gabriel Chamé Buendia, and Double bill, of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company.