According to the dictionary, the cugula is a plant of the grass family, similar to oats, that frequently appears at the edges of cultivated fields. It is generally considered a weed. And, surely because of this, the rural world often used the term "cugula" to refer to what a pregnant woman carried in her womb: a girl.

Those of us who have the privilege of going to the theater fairly often see, day in and day out, that the percentage of gray-haired people in the audience is overwhelmingly high, with a few exceptions. Soothing.

For 21 years, the Petit Festival has been working to expand the spaces and performance offerings aimed at the youngest audiences: children between 0 and 5 years old. "All the studies say so. At this age, children retain all their experiences and they help them in their daily lives. Art and aesthetics should be present in their lives," says Eulàlia Ribera, who co-directs the festival with Isabel Urpí. With this objective, Petit kicks off this Saturday and, until November 30, will host fifteen shows in venues in Barcelona, ​​Granollers, Igualada, Lleida, Olot, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Viladecans, Benicàssim, and Sant Llorenç. Having become a leading international early childhood festival, it manages to gain new venues and expand its program year after year. This year, the Teatre Lliure de Montjuïc and the Ponent Penitentiary Center join the festival.

The Temporada Alta festival unveiled a new director and a new lineup this Thursday. Narcís Puig took over from Salvador Sunyer, pursuing the goal of "maintaining the established path throughout all these years," with a lineup featuring major international names and new productions by Catalan talent. The festival will take place from September 18 to December 12 in the Girona region—particularly Girona and Salt—and will feature 92 shows and 28 premieres, with a budget of nearly €3 million.

The artistic director of the Weimar Kunstfest, Rolf C. Hemke, has concluded his seven-year tenure at the helm of the festival by calling for "living courageously" to continue fighting for a better future at a time when "democratic and political certainties are no longer what they used to be." "Without courageous and conscious action from each of us, we could risk our future recklessly," Hemke warned. Courage and bravery are a testament to this. Russian journalist Yelena Kostiuchenko, who on Thursday attended "very satisfied" the world premiere of a theatrical production based on her book My beloved country (The Second Periphery, 2025) in an old factory built during the Third Reich. Kostiuchenko (Yaroslavl, Russia, 1987) worked for 17 years to Nóvaia Gazeta and it goes She was the first to demonstrate the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Exiled in Berlin, she suffered a poisoning attempt.

"We already know that here, in Girona, there are plenty of cyclists, and so that the boss wouldn't fail, that's why she invited me." Entering through the hallway of the Municipal Theater, accompanied by Catalonia's favorite Vallense heiress, Jèssica Pulla, authorities and an entourage of giants and big heads, Glòria Ribera (Guissona, 1994) ignited the young people gathered in the Barri Vell with songs this Thursday afternoon with an irreverent critique of mass tourism. the opening of the Z Festival, an equally irreverent offering created five years ago for those under 30, which suited her like a glove. With a crown on her head, crowning her as the Princess of Girona, the singer and new showgirl from Guissona introduced herself as "Her Majesty Gloria Ribera de Leonor," because she says she doesn't like Borbón and "Ermesenda was already hooked."

Opening night and nerves—the good kind—on Montjuïc mountain. "Anything can go wrong at any moment," warned acrobat and stage designer Yoann Bourgeois at the presentation of The Little Circus, the contemporary circus offering that opened the 49th edition of the Grec Festival this Thursday at the Teatre Grec. Once the show premiered, it was clear that the French artist's caution was not false modesty. The stage design had to work like clockwork so as not to detract from the show's impossible acrobatics. Nothing could go wrong. And it didn't. Created by six artists: Yoann Bourgeois, French singer-songwriter Pomme, and dancer Marie Bourgeois, The little cirque has successfully overcome the challenge of kicking off the Catalan capital's grand showcase of the performing arts.

Starting this summer, the Alt Penedès region will host a new free interdisciplinary festival, Soolus, featuring artists such as Pol Guasch, Diana Gómez, Tanit, Elisabet Casanovas, and Albert Baró. All participants have accepted the festival's basic premise: to bring artistic proposals starring a single individual to the stage. The creator behind this initiative is actor and director Francesc Cuéllar, who has decided to deploy a diverse program in his homeland, encompassing all genres. Soolus will run for three days: starting on June 7 in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, continuing on June 8 in Olesa de Bonesvalls, and ending on September 27 in Vilafranca del Penedès.

Theaters, concert halls, cinemas, museums, libraries and exhibition halls will be able to open with 70% of the capacity from 24 May onwards. This has been announced by the Minister of Health, Alba Vergés, at a press conference this Friday to report on the state of the pandemic in Catalonia. It also extends the limit of attendees to theaters and concert halls: the maximum number of spectators will be 1,000 indoors and 3,000 outdoors or in rooms with reinforced ventilation, provided they are separated in cohabitation bubbles. Since October 2020, cultural venues have been working with a 50% capacity limit and a maximum of 1,000 people seated outdoors and 500 people seated indoors.

Two days after ARA uncovered the cases of harassment and abuse at the Institut del Teatre (IT), a teacher explained to the assembly of students gathered in the atrium of the building that, apart from Joan Ollé, the name of another teacher was on the table. It is Boris Dausà, who has been suspended from classes as a precautionary measure at the request of the commission in charge of investigating the matter.

For the second day in a row, the students of the Institut del Teatre (IT) have demonstrated again in the atrium of the building. This time, after reading again the manifesto to show their indignation for the cases of harassment and abuses of power uncovered by the ARA and reiterating the request for the resignation of the management, the students held an assembly to decide the next steps. While the students were considering the possibility of calling a strike - at the moment it is not confirmed - one of the teachers of the IT has joined to ask that both the faculty and the students row in the same direction. And he has announced that there are two names of teachers on the table. Therefore, beyond Joan Ollé, who yesterday Monday was removed from the faculty, there is a second case of a teacher who will be investigated. A fact that, for the moment, the direction of the center denies.

Joan Ollé will no longer teach at the Institut del Teatre (IT). He will be removed immediately after the cases of sexual harassment and abuse reported by dozens of students, a case uncovered by ARA on Saturday. The centre's management met this morning with student representatives, who communicated the students' request that this decision be taken. In fact, more than a hundred students demonstrated in the atrium this morning, with proclamations against Ollé and the director, Magda Puyo. "Ollé out!" and "Director, resign!", shouted the students, who were supported by professional actresses and actors who also studied at the IT. There were also several teachers, and some of them applauded the shouts against Ollé.

"At the Institut del Teatre we called them "los niñas" (the girls) because they went after girls". It is a phrase from a Catalan actress that defines what has been going on for decades in a public institution, dependant on the Diputació de Barcelona, such as the Institut del Teatre. Over the last 30 years there have been a number of teachers who have abused their power over students with humiliating and sexual comments, even harassing them and in some cases sexually abusing them by touching them. In one case, such behaviour caused a student to drop out of school and move away. There has also been repeated and structural psychological abuse. These are not isolated incidents. ARA has spoken to hundreds of students who have put the spotlight on a dozen teachers and ex-teachers. Three are repeated: Joan Ollé and, to varying degrees, Jorge Vera and Berty Tovías.