Joan Carreras: "I'm still one of those fools who believe in the transformative power of love."

BarcelonaBetween the first and last sentence of Heart of lovers, Thirteen years passed since the creation of Portuguese playwright and director Tiago Rodrigues (Lisbon, 1977). In 2007, he wrote the play, which is his debut, and in 2020, he decided to resume work to finish it. "I didn't rewrite anything, I just added things. Just like in life, you can't change anything, you only add experiences," explains Rodrigues, who is the current director of the prestigious Avignon Festival. The Portuguese artist has settled in Barcelona to direct a new production, Lovers' Heart, starring Marta Marco and Joan Carreras, which premieres this Friday at the Teatre Lliure de Gràcia, where it can be seen until May 25.

With this show, Rodrigues wanted to explore the idea of love and the passage of time. That's why he imagined the life of a couple over the years, told through the two protagonists. The play begins in an emergency situation: one of the two members of the couple could die, they need to go to the hospital, and every minute feels like an eternity. "At that moment, they tell themselves that, if they survive, they'll live differently. The risk of death leads them to think they could have used their time better," Rodrigues points out. But to change "you need time," he adds, and the play accompanies them on that transformative journey to the end of life and beyond, which lasts an hour on stage.

"It's a beautiful work in every aspect, in its simplicity and its depth. I'm still one of those fools who believe in the transformative power of love and its healing power. It's everything in life," says Joan Carreras. "I could spend hours reciting the text, talking about life, loving. I will remember this show for the rest of my life," says Marta Marco. With Lovers' Heart They have reunited after 22 years without working together; the last time they did so was in 2002, with The daughter of the sea at the National Theatre of Catalonia.

A musical score

Lovers' Heart It stands out above all for the way it's been conceived. The text is conceived as a musical score: sometimes it takes the form of a monologue, other times it's a coherent verse in which the performers speak simultaneously, or it becomes a canon. This adds to the difficulties for the actors, who must coordinate to the millimeter and never lose the rhythm. "It places us in a place of maximum commitment and acceptance of error. We've accepted that perfection is impossible: no matter what happens, we have to hold hands and go together," says Marco. "The score ranges from polyphony to cacophony, and goes through very different registers and genres. It's one of the pieces that has been most difficult for me to study in my life," adds Carreras.

To give the actors their full weight, the staging is minimalist. "I have blind faith in the power and presence of Joan and Marta. The stage will be almost empty, with a curtain and two chairs. A few objects will appear that dialogue with certain moments mentioned in the piece, that's all," explains Rodrigues. This formal decision responds to his idea of creating "evocative" theater, focused above all on the words and the performers. Furthermore, language plays a fundamental role. "The lead couple is a heart that speaks in unison. That's why it doesn't make sense to present the show in the Portuguese version, because if the audience doesn't understand the language, it's a problem," says Rodrigues. Performing it in Catalan, for him, has been a very gratifying experience: "I notice there's no cultural distance between you and us. After performing the piece in French and Greek, I feel at home in Catalan."