Perhaps when they come out to buy a "tortell" at Can Carbasseres, or when they sunbathe on the steps of the Sant Esteve church on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th April, the people of Olot will suddenly come across a "dona-bedoll" (birch woman). Let no one be alarmed: this is an action by the British artist Olana Light, invited to the capital of La Garrotxa by the Sismògraf festival. Light's performance, titled "The birch tree family", is one of the most notable events in the program and seeks to generate reflections in spectators and passers-by about the bond we have with nature. Submerged in the bark of a birch tree up to her knees, the artist will become a living sculpture that will walk through the center of Olot in silence, wearing high-heeled shoes.

The Great Hall of the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) will host, from April 22 to May 31, Oedipus and Antigone with a Catalan company formed mainly by racialized performers. This is a sadly unusual situation that the director of the show, Carlota Subirós, wanted to break. "It's the first time my son has seen this in the thirty years I've been working," says actress Vicenta Ndongo, pointing to the show's poster, with the photograph of Kathy Sey and Babou Cham. "We have a very whitewashed image of classical Greece. We have constructed the fallacy that Europe is white. It wasn't in its origin and it isn't today," Subirós adds.

Actress Lola Herrera (Valladolid, 1935) explains that she fell and injured her hip, but that when the play begins all pains vanish. "It is a complete liberation to stop being myself and dive into the lives of other women with different problems," points out the performer, who has almost seven decades on stage. For a year now, Herrera has been touring the country with Camino a la Meca, a play written by Athol Fugard and directed by Claudio Tolcachir, which has just arrived at the Goya Theatre, where it will be seen from this Wednesday until May 24. The play is inspired by the true story of Helen Martins, a South African sculptor who fought to embrace the life she desired during the 70s. Accompanied by Natalia Dicenta and Carlos Olalla, Herrera has already performed it nearly 150 times and the audience has not stopped celebrating it.

The show L'herència, directed by Josep Maria Mestres and premiered at the Teatre Lliure in February last year, became this Monday the big winner of the 28th Critics' Awards for Performing Arts. The production has been awarded best show, best direction, and best supporting actor for Carles Martínez. In this year's edition, beyond L'herència, the awards have been widely distributed among the wide range of stage proposals premiered in 2025. L'amor venia amb taxi by La Cubana has won the award for best musical and best costume design, Opereta imaginària by Albert Arribas has been recognized as best small-format work and best dramaturgy, while Leshi, by Atresbandes, has prevailed in the new trends category. The Critics' Awards are organized by the digital platform Recomana and are chosen by active performing arts critics. This year they were presented at a ceremony at the Centre Moral i Cultural del Poblenou.

For a decade they have been working non-stop. They have premiered nine shows of small, medium and large format, street and indoor, with the audience in the Italian style, standing, sitting in hammocks. "It has been a very prolific ten years. When we were five years old, it seemed like we were 84. Physically and mentally, we didn't feel emergent," explains Lluki Portas. She is one-third of the soul of Hermanas Picohueso, a company born in the Balearic Islands and also formed by Gal·la Peire and Aina Juanet. Artists and producers, they have made a niche for themselves in the theatre sector thanks, above all, to an innovative capacity, to incessantly seek new languages and to present scenic proposals, the result of deep research. Now they bring AHNI (Unidentified Human Actions) to the Mostra d'Igualada, their first production for a family audience but also for adults. The play will be shown on April 18th in various performances.

The journalist Montse Virgili (Tarragona, 1976), presenter of the program Las mujeres y los días from Catalunya Ràdio, makes her literary debut with Los pajaritos (La Magrana), a novel about the women who have marked her. From the fishmonger who was missing half an arm and the pastry chef who gave her sweets for no reason to the almost illiterate grandmother who wrote in Spanish, Virgili crafts a narrative collage that precisely captures childhood in the 80s and is, at the same time, a strong tribute to the women silenced by the patriarchy.

"Politicians move around in a monoplaça / go with Avant / trip over branches / pay when they shit / and howl if they are flattered! / Who cares! / Haven't you voted for them? / Who else? The scabs from the park?", writes the German playwright Wolfram Lotz (Hamburg, 1981) in one of his most radical and most performed plays in Europe, The Politicians (2019). Lotz, who has a repertoire of fewer than ten plays, is one of the fundamental Germanic voices in the contemporary scene; he has been translated into about fifteen languages and his shows have been seen in countries like Germany, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. And, despite this strong international projection, the playwright has never been performed or published here. Until now. Aware of this deficiency, the Centre de les Arts Lliures of the Fundació Joan Brossa welcomed the project by director Leo V. Granados and translator Marc Villanueva Mir to bring Lotz's The Politicians" to the stage and to bookstores at the same time. The show has just premiered and can be seen until April 26, and the book has already been published by Arola Editors.

"We are excited by the idea of risk, the thought that we can make mistakes and that this can be a creative engine," says actor and director Nao Albet to explain why, together with his professional adventure partner Marcel Borràs, he has decided to dive into opera. The artistic duo — responsible for shows like Falsestuff (2018, Premi Max)— have written, directed, and will perform from April 15th to May 3rd Els Estunmen at the Teatre Lliure de Montjuïc. It is a contemporary opera with music by Fernando Velázquez, a live orchestra from the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and 21 people on stage.

Her name is Sara Cohen, she is a doctor specializing in brain disorders and she is tired of keeping the secret. The author of the literary saga "The Maid", which has sold millions of books worldwide, has become one of the most impactful best-sellers in recent years and has had a homonymous film starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has revealed her true identity to the American newspaper USA Today". Until now, Cohen was hiding behind the pseudonym Freida McFadden. "I'm at a point in my career where I'm tired of this being a secret, of people debating whether I'm a real person or if I'm three men. I have nothing to hide," says the writer. The revelation comes shortly before the publication of the next book, "Dear Debbie" (in Catalan by Rosa dels Vents), and the confirmation of the second film of "The Maid", which Sweeney will once again star in.

At the first presentation of the novel Permagel (Club Editor, 2018), by Eva Baltasar, there was practically no one. "It was a devastating event. Afterwards, the four of us who were there went to dinner," explains journalist Natza Farré, who was in charge of hosting that event. Eight years later, the novel has become an editorial phenomenon and has gone beyond the literary field: Espai Texas is premiering the theatrical adaptation of the book directed by Victoria Szpunberg and starring Maria Rodríguez Soto. The show is a co-production by Dagoll Dagom – the company's latest – and Barc, and can be seen until June 28. Permagel recounts the story of a woman attached to reading and sex who, through her thoughts and reality, delves into lesbian desire, suicide, and motherhood. "It's an uncomfortable comedy, an unclassifiable work. It has a lucid and playful pessimism at the same time and contains high doses of pain that connect with our present," states Szpunberg.

With three decades of professional career behind him, actor Albert Triola (Mataró, 1973) knows the Catalan theater stages very well. He has worked with Dagoll Dagom, Guillem Clua, Sergi Belbel and Josep Maria Flotats and has been part of productions that have marked our country's billboard, such as Agost(2012) and Smiley (2014). Now he faces a new challenge, that of performing his first monologue. He does so directed by David Pintó in the production El lladre de llibretes, an adaptation of the homonymous novel by Gianni Solla about a helpless teenager in Mussolini's Italy. The production will be staged at the Versus theater until May 3.

What is the thread that connects Mozart and Bad Bunny? According to the company Cabosanroque, the connection is direct and very evident: through the opera Don Giovanni. The Puerto Rican artist sings in Tití me preguntó about the women he has slept with, just as the protagonist of Mozart's opera reviews his conquests at one point in the show. "The myth of Don Juan has been revisited many, many times. Each era is responsible for reflecting on it, judging it, and deciding whether to redeem or condemn it," explains Laia Torrents, the soul of Cabosanroque along with Roger Aixut. With this mission, the company projects its gaze on Mozart's opera, linking it to the present in the show Mil tres, say cheese, which can be seen from April 8 to 19 at the Teatre Lliure de Gràcia and is co-produced by the same theater with Temporada Alta.

"I always write about things that worry me and that I am experiencing," says playwright and director Marta Buchaca (1979) to talk about her latest play, A Slap in Time. Practically a year after Kramig, Buchaca returns to the billboard with a new comedy that points to different educational models and the clash between the ways of the 80s and 90s and the present day. "The war I'm having right now at home is with my children and against my parents. In my time, parents did things and we followed them, now it's the complete opposite," reflects Buchaca. From this contrast, the creator has made the heart of the show, which stars Ramon Madaula and Montse Guallar and premieres this Tuesday at La Villarroel, where it can be seen until May 17.

Regina Rodríguez Sirvent (Alp, 1983) started writing her second novel right after the birth of her second child, who was premature and He spent the first months of his life in the ICU at Vall d'Hebron.After that harrowing and profoundly unsettling experience, the writer could have continued to delve into the darkness, but instead, she chose the light: she unearthed from her memory one of the most beautiful and transformative moments of her life and turned it into Early morning popcorn (La Campana), which is published this Tuesday in Catalan and Spanish. He did it with the help of a pillow and the pressure of the enormous success of Panties in the sun (La Campana, 2022), which has sold over 100,000 copies in Catalan and 25,000 in Spanish, has been translated into English and is being adapted into a film. In his new novel, Rodríguez Sirvent revisits his alter egoRita Racons, when she's already over thirty. The protagonist ends up in a coworking Full of dreamers who will reveal to you a friendship and a love rarely found in life.

Every two years, the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) invites companies that break with conventional norms and embrace risk to its facilities. "These are artists who perform a very important task in expanding the language of theatre," emphasizes TNC director Carme Portaceli. This gathering is part of the ZIP Festival and will take place this year from March 25 to 29. Under the coordination of Judit Pujol, the festival has programmed five productions that will unfold across various spaces within the theatre, from the Sala Tallers and the Sala Petita to the storage areas. To kick off ZIP, the company Atresbandes will premiere Impossible to imagine anything, a piece that draws on the current context of collapse to question uncertainty and emptiness. "It's like a cassette with an A-side and a B-side. The first is the impossibility of imagining anything, of groping in the dark about everything we're experiencing. And the second revolves around the impossibility of not imagining, because imagination is inherent to us," explains one of the company members, Albert Pérez Hidalgo.

It so happened that during the process of creating the show Better not to say it —about a couple in their second marriage who decide to tell each other everything—the lead actor, Imanol Arias (Riaño, 1956), has recently remarried. "Like the couple in the play, this recent marriage is a union where we try to spend a lot of time together, talk, and above all, take care of each other," explains Arias. On stage, he shares passion, dialogue, and arguments with actress María Barranco, who plays the other half of the story. Written by the French playwright Salomé Lelouch, the production is an adaptation by Pablo Kompel, directed by Claudio Tolcachir. This comedy premiered in Madrid in October and has since played in Buenos Aires (where it drew over 100,000 spectators) and Montevideo. From this Wednesday until April 12, it will be performed at the Teatro Goya, where tickets are practically sold out.

In the new novel by Empar Moliner (Santa Eulalia de Ronçana, 1966), Instructions for living without her (Column), death, journalism, and literature are invoked from its very first pages. If a Dear (Columna, 2022; Ramon Llull Prize) The writer, who dissected the ravages of time, now explores the end of life through Claudia Pruna, a highly productive and successful author who is the breadwinner for her entire family. Allied with a librarian who is a fanatic of her work, the protagonist throws herself into writing articles and recording radio segments so that the income doesn't stop when she's gone. With a bittersweet sense of humor—at times tinged with cynicism, at others full of tenderness—Moliner has written a novel that revolves around honesty and is, ultimately, a literary invitation to enjoy life.

It's rare that the press area at the Teatre Lliure is so crowded the company presenting the show that it's practically bursting at the seams. This Monday was no exception, but the overcrowding was justified: the Grec Festival and the Teatre Lliure are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2026, and to mark the occasion, they've decided to pull out all the stops with a massive production. The Three-Royal Opera by Bertolt Brecht. It will be directed by the Galician creator Marta Pazos, responsible for shows that have left their mark on Barcelona, ​​such as the opera Alexina B and the García Lorca montage The public. Dani Espasa will assume the musical direction of the show, which will feature a live orchestra, choreography by Mabel Olea, and 12 performers on stage, including top names such as Nao Albet, Eduard Farelo, Míriam Moukhles, Júlia Truyol, and Roc Bernad. "It will be a celebration born from pleasure, joy, and hope," says Julio Manrique, director of the Lliure. Letícia Martín, director of the Grec Festival, adds that "a show of this scale was perfect for both openings: the festival itself, on June 29, and the Lliure's season."

Often, a vocational love for the theater awakens far from the trappings of grand premieres. Sometimes it springs from parents who are deeply involved in the arts. in amateur theatreOthers are found in school performances that leave even the most skeptical student speechless, or thanks to enthusiastic grandparents who, on Christmas afternoon, abandoned the dishes to wash and decided to take all their grandchildren to see the Pastorets (Christmas plays). These are small stories behind which lies a great Catalan playwright, director, or actor who saw the seed of theater sprout in the theater of their town or city. These spaces garner extraordinary public esteem, but paradoxically, they are the ones that receive the least investment, the least programming, and the least institutional support.

Catalan literature received a healthy dose of self-esteem yesterday, which will carry it proudly at least until Sant Jordi's Day. The Night of Catalan Letters brought together a large institutional contingent at the National Museum of Catalonia—including the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa; the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni; and former President Jordi Pujol, among many others, and the absence of the PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana parties—as well as representatives from the publishing sector, from major groups (Planeta, Penguin Random House, and Abacus Futur) and independent publishers such as L'Altra and La Segona Cultura. A successor to the Night of Saint Lucy, the gala was broadcast live on TV3, placing it, in terms of scale and scope, on par with the Gaudí Awards ceremony. The evening's deluge of accolades was largely theatrical and, above all, marked by a Mallorcan accent. One of the star awards of the gala, the Sant Jordi, went to Carles Rebassa (Palma, 1977) for Prometheus in a thousand waysThis is the second novel by the writer and poet, who in 2016 debuted in narrative with It was them (Angle) and in 2018 he already won Carles Riba of poetry with Dirty sounds"I'm delighted to have won these two prizes; it means participating in a tradition and giving it a place in the present and a hope for its continuation," Rebassa stated. The writer has a very long career and has received numerous awards, especially for his poetry, such as the Ausiàs March and Gabriel Ferrater prizes.