'Refugi': Four characters in search of a family
A highly recommended proposal directed by Mònica Molins Duran at the Biblioteca de Catalunya
'Shelter'
- Author: Jessica Goldberg
- Translation: Carlota Subirós
- Direction: Mònica Molins Duran
- Cast: Lua Amat, Joan Esteve, Daniel Mallorquín and Laura Roig
The Biblioteca de Catalunya is a theatrical bastion led by Oriol Broggi, a director who occasionally opens the door to other creators, as has happened with this one. Shelter, which he himself directed at the Sala Beckett in Gràcia in 2003 and which now returns in the hands of young performers and a very young director who display talent and skill in a highly recommended proposal.
It is true that the work of the American Jessica Goldberg is as relevant now as it was twenty years ago and will probably be so twenty more years from now, because in addition to its good writing, it has an enduring theme: the family as a space of affection. Goldberg imagines a broken family in which the parents moved to Florida and abandoned their two daughters and son. The older sister, Amy, has taken charge of the house and the care of her younger sister (Becca) and of a sick and very dependent brother (Nat), who laments that he will never find a girl who will fall in love with him because of his condition. A rather uninspiring panorama that one night out is discovered by Sam, a homeless boy who falls in love with Amy. Four unfortunate characters, with emotional deficiencies they conceal as best they can, with a complicated present and a bleak future, seek security and see family as a refuge from adversity. Could it be?
In a fairly realistic stage setting, director Mònica Molins Duran's first success is the casting. And the second, the magnificent direction of the actresses and actor. Laura Roig's Amy is a bundle of energy, anguish, and determination. She has a spirit. Lua Amat nails the role of Becca, this good girl anodized by dancing who flirts with drugs. Daniel Mallorquín's Nat has the virtue of not going too far (characters of sick people and drunks pose that danger in theater), of hovering at the perfect balance between illness and lucidity. And Joan Esteve's Sam walks the fine line of what could happen very well, as from the moment he arrives, he becomes the driving force of the house. Bravo!