Quim Masferrer: "You could not do this job without being reckless"

BarcelonaBefore becoming known for the program El foraster, the actor and television presenter Quim Masferrer (Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, 1971) had already exhibited his acting side. A founding member of the company Teatre de Guerrilla, Masferrer premiered the play Temps fifteen years ago as part of the Temporada Alta festival, a solo monologue that starts from the following premise: what would you do if you had 90 minutes left to live? The show, which was seen in 2014 at the former Barts hall in Barcelona, is now being performed at the Teatre Borràs from September 9th to October 18th.

The first question is mandatory: what would you do if you had 90 minutes left to live?

— I think it is a question that you cannot answer until you find yourself in that situation. And that is precisely the root of the show. Some tell you they would have sex, others that they would start dancing, but we really do not know. Theater allows you to put yourself in complicated situations and explain with humor many things that seem improbable to us.

Fifteen years have passed since you premiered Temps at Temporada Alta. What has changed most for you in these years?

— Time itself. Fifteen years is a long time and the passage of time changes us all. In fact, it is an ancestral theme that we humans continue to revisit. Now I am older, more mature and, therefore, this is also noticeable on stage. But I really wanted to recover this show to see how it has survived, precisely, the passage of time. I have realized that many of the things I wrote back then are still valid today. The show has a part of fierce criticism.

Is the text updated?

— Yes, we have adapted some things and changed the scenery, but really many of the things that were criticized at that time have not changed that much. Humans have been worrying about the same things for thousands of years.

You have performed more than 500 shows with the Bona gent show. Were you eager for a change and to return to less improvised theater?

— Bona gent have captivated me. It is a true wonder to be able to play with improvisation. Giving the audience a voice is wonderful. I really wanted to bring back the play, because many people told me: "I remember you did Temps, when will you do it again?". And reviewing the text, I realize that I also want to see the show again. It is true that now I come from a much more communicative stage, very much a cabaret performer, even. With Temps I return to a tougher performance, we see a more actor-like Quim again, and it makes me very happy.

What do you find more difficult: improvisation with the audience, like in Bona gent, or a tougher text as you say, in which you are alone on stage?

— It's complicated. I have always thought that standing alone on stage is a real act of recklessness. You couldn't do this job without being reckless. Before every show, if you stop to think, you say: "Gosh, what am I doing here? I would be so much better off at home." But when you finish, it's a wonderful thing. When you see that the audience has laughed and had a good time, all of that is forgotten, and you realize that you have the most beautiful job in the world. It is true that I come from a background of improvisation, and now I go up on a stage without that crutch that is the audience. But answering the question, both are difficult.

Do you plan to explore tragicomedy even more in the future?

— Yes, even though I am re-releasing it now, it does not mean that I am not considering doing new things. Simply put, now was the time to recover the text, with the 15th anniversary, but it is not to the detriment of premiering new things. There is time for everything.

The whole time, all the time.

— It is a brutal wild card, I even remember that when people left the show they told me: "Thank you for this time". It is an hour and a half in which I try for the audience to enjoy it to the fullest.

Molière said in Tartuffe that "the mission of comedy is to expose and correct the vices of people". Do you believe in this vision of theater as a social transformer?

— I do not want to transform or lecture anyone. My only intention is to tell a story, that of this character, and for people to have a good time. However, if there are spectators who go further and I can get them to be talking three hours after the show, fantastic! I do not have that goal, but it is true that culture nourishes, theater feeds us. We need food to nourish ourselves, and we also need to nourish the brain. From what I understand, everyone who comes to see the play dedicates a small part to wondering what they would do if they had 90 minutes of life left. It is a comic play with a background that they did not expect. And the premise is a question that I had asked a lot around me when I thought of the text.

Shortly after Temps, arrived El foraster. At the end of September it will be thirteen years. What advice would you give to that Quim Masferrer?

— I'm not much of a one for giving advice, but I would tell him: "I come from the future, and you are about to experience fantastic things, to consolidate a project in which you will meet many people and who will come to see you on a stage". I am from Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, my father was a farmer and my mother was a cook, and I was unaware that you could make a living from the performing arts.

You always say that one of the keys to El foraster is authenticity. Do you think that in Temps there is also that truthfulness you are looking for?

— In the program, and also in Bona gent, there is no fiction. I do not speak with characters, but with people. And these people tell me about their lives. Now I return to dramaturgy that allows me to play and put myself in the shoes of someone who does not exist. After a period of so much truth, of people's authenticity, I wanted to return to the character. And it turns out that with this show about death, you end up talking about life, because everyone feels addressed. All the spectators know that they will die, but we are very lucky that we do not know how much life we have left. On the other hand, the character lives with this anguish. If I knew how much I had left, perhaps I would not premiere the play.

It is the great theme that the work explores: death.

— Death is what unites us all as humans. There are rich, poor, there are lucky people and people not so lucky, but what all these people have in common is that they will die. Therefore, the goal is for you to empathize with the character and, above all, for us to value our time. If you think about it, this entire audience has decided to spend their time, such a precious thing, coming to see you up on a stage. That is a very big deal.

How can you make comedy about a person who is about to die without trivializing it?

— We often associate death with something negative, but fortunately, we have to die. If it were not so, nothing would make sense. Therefore, I believe that one can use humor, because you are not targeting a specific group, but rather, those who die are all of us. And here, the elementary component of life, such as laughter, gains much more strength.

We could not live without humor, then?

— Without comedy, we would not write about ourselves. Thus, we bring to the fore something as transcendental as death, and let us do it with that mayonnaise that binds everything together, which is laughter. The character takes advantage of the situation to bring out all their miseries, thinking: "For the time I have to stay here, I don't want to get worked up about it." It is through comedy that the character finds relief.

After nine seasons, are you still eager to do El foraster?

— Yes, we still have many towns left. In Catalonia there are 947 municipalities and we have made 145 programs. We still have a way to go. I am passionate about making the program, but it is true that it requires a lot of effort. El foraster is a character who does not know how to say no. Whatever challenge he is given, he signs up for it. The most important thing is that I meet people. Every time I return to a town, my folder of friends grows. I never stop learning things, both in El foraster and in Bona gent. Physical exhaustion exists, and that is why we are taking a break from the program, but it is hard to get tired of this job that I have.