How to talk about cancer with your teenage children?

BarcelonaHow do you explain to your child that you have cancer? This is what writer Siobhán Dowd considered when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She decided to write a fantasy novel. Sadly, the author died when she had the characters and plot in place, and the publisher decided to pass the material on to another young adult novelist, Patrick Ness, who published A monster comes to see me in 2011, with illustrations by Jim Kay. In 2016 JA Bayona He turned it into a highly successful international film adaptation and in 2018 it arrived at London's Old Vic.

Now is the time to return to the theater. A Spanish version of the theatrical adaptation of the novel, directed by José Luis Arellano, takes root at Barcelona's Teatro Apolo from April 2 to 19. The unique feature is that the impetus came from the Association Against Cancer, which needed to find a way to talk about this disease to teenagers from a place that would impact them and connect them emotionally. That's why they contacted La Joven Compañía de Teatro, which is dedicated precisely to creating a professional space for young artists and young audiences with works that have a strong social commitment. "There is no specific theater for young people, but there are themes and forms that can have a greater emotional impact among them. Theater can be a tool to talk, to remove the taboo of the disease," says Pedro Sánchez, assistant director of the company, who has worked with titles such as Playoff by Marta Buchaca, Gazoline by Jordi Casanovas and classics like Lord of the Flies and Treasure Island.

The protagonist of the play is Conor (Elisa Hipólito), a thirteen-year-old boy who suffers bullying at school and who at the same time must confront his mother's cancer. At night, when he is plagued by nightmares, an ancient yew tree appears to him to tell him mysterious stories—in the play, represented as a metallic tree with screens and personified by an actor, Iker Lastra. "Of all the things that exist in the world, stories are the wildest," it tells the boy.

A show that closes a circle

The show, designed for audiences from middle and high school onwards, has already been seen in Madrid and will tour Spain for two seasons. In addition to raising awareness about the topic, it will also raise funds for the Association Against Cancer, the private organization that provides the most funding to the State and works to prevent the disease and support families with free patient and family care services. In a way, a circle closes because ten years ago, when JA Bayona was filming the movie, "he asked for advice on how to portray the child and mother in the organization," recalls Ángela Sánchez, psychologist and manager of the association. As is customary with La Joven, the show will have school performances, beginning with a preparatory dossier for schools (which addresses prevention, management of loss, grief, and emotions) and ending with a post-performance discussion featuring specialized psychologists to assist young people in need.

"Theater is healing, and this show can destigmatize some of the abysses we humans don't want to see, because looking into them is like looking at our most vulnerable side," says actress Cristina Bertol, a former cancer patient who plays the mother who is ill with cancer. "Who hasn't found a way to feel supported in literature and art?" concludes Pedro Sánchez.