Here is a play that is a challenge both for the audience and for the British playwright Ella Hickson when she was commissioned by the Almeida Theatre in London to write a play with total freedom. Hickson took it very seriously, letting out the conflicts that, as a playwright, she has to face in a British theatrical system increasingly focused on profitable proposals that have little or no impact on the real world.

The bottles of Fanta lemon on the tables at the usual refreshment offered by the Lliure after premieres were very suitable for this school-like proposal well conducted by an empathetic Olga Onrubia, chorus leader and guide of an entertaining look at Sophocles' classic but lacking the necessary pathos. It is a proposal that Andrea Jiménez's direction has populated with occurrences with little dramatic justification, such as replacing the old blind Tiresias with a girl heir to his power of prediction, reducing the character of Eurydice to nothing, or treating an Ismene dressed by her worst enemy as an actress who doesn't know what play she's in.

Júlia Truyol (Palma, 1987) is one of the driving forces behind La Calòrica, but over the years she has forged a career that goes beyond the company and demonstrates the actress's voracity for taking on different challenges. She now faces her first dramatic leading role with Contra Antígona, directed by Andrea Jiménez and performed from May 21 to June 21 at the Sala Fabià Puigserver of the Teatre Lliure. The show brings Sophocles' myth to contemporaneity with a peculiarity: at each performance, 14 volunteer spectators will go on stage with headphones to become part of the play.

The Norwegian writer and playwright Jon Fosse (Haugesund, 1959), winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, is the most performed living European playwright in the world. "He occupies an important place in the theatrical canon, he is not at all a minority figure," emphasizes director Ferran Utzet. Despite Fosse's impact on contemporary theatre, his works are rarely present on the Catalan stage. In recent years, there have been very few productions, including "Soc el vent" directed by Marc Chornet at L'Akadèmia in 2021 and "Vindrà algú" in 2002, directed by Antonio Simón at Sala Beckett. Now Utzet wants to do him justice with "El fill", which will be performed from May 8 to June 7 at L'Espai Lliure de Montjuïc. "I have a strong sense of challenge and responsibility," says the director.

Stuntmen, otherwise called specialists or action doubles, are those performers who either substitute for the protagonists in dangerous scenes or are cinematic victims of the violence exerted upon them. Of violence goes this supposed opera by Nao Albet and Marcel Borràs

"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.

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.

There are a couple of hours left until a new performance ofThe ferryman At the Teatre Lliure de Montjuïc in Barcelona, ​​eleven-year-old Bruna Luz is restless and starts dancing before going on stage, while she waits for her turn to have her hair done, change, and put on her microphone. Beside her, ten-year-old Bruna Armengol joins in her games and laughs nonstop while waiting for the same. In a little while, they will become Mercy and Honor Carney, and their characters will travel to a rural area of ​​County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It will be a day in late August 1981, and the Carney family will be celebrating Harvest Day. But the festive family day will end in tragedy.

There's a rule we apply with friends: if The first year is a successThe second becomes a tradition. The second edition of the Anna Pérez Pagès Prize for Cultural Journalism has established itself as the only place and the only time in which anyone celebrates the importance of culture and the existence of those of us who explain it; today they would call it the secure site of cultural journalists, just as the red sofa ofArctic, the memorable Betevé program directed by the honoree, which He left us prematurely two years ago. If tradition is a celebration, the ritual of an award ceremony serves not only to remember Anna, but also to put her on our calendars, just like we used to do when we met up with her.

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."

In 2025, 21% of the State's citizens were 65 years of age or older. And 5.5% of those over 65 suffer or will suffer from Alzheimer's. Marc Artigau, one of the most awarded and performed Catalan playwrights, has aptly written works about adolescence (The others); on improvised happiness (Good intentions); about grandparents and habaneras (There's no need to go to Havana); about robots (Sunrise or the Garden of Earthly Delights), and several love stories (You will arrive and it will be night and The deserted islandAnd he always does so with a touch of comedy, even when discussing serious matters. This is the case withA party in Rome, which focuses on a theme that theater has often explored, in keeping with the social importance of Alzheimer's disease (The father, by Florian Zeller; Full moon, by Aki Shimazaki; Deserts of memory, by Marcela Tierra; Before the German arrives(by Marta Barceló). A painful subject that could easily lead to drama, but which Artigau turns into an entertaining sentimental comedy that Clara Segura directs with confidence and rhythm, and which the audience applauds enthusiastically.

It's not a show about old age, but about the fourth. All the performers in the company make that clear.A party in RomeThe latest play written by Marc Artigau, which premieres on February 12 at the Teatre Lliure in Gràcia. "It's a vindication of this stage of life, from age 75 and up, to show that, despite the decline, they are not children but adults, and that they shouldn't be treated as children," emphasizes one of the actors in the play, Lluís Marco. A party in Rome It will run until March 22nd and is directed by Clara Segura, who is taking on this role for the third time (the first was in 2020 with Coverage and the second was in 2022 with The braidThe text is also published by Comanegra, within the collection Guard LightThe protagonists of the play are Romina (Marta Angelat) and Juli (Lluís Marco)—their names a clear homage to Romeo and Juliet—and the show tells part of their love story, which unfolds in a retirement home. Artigau uses Romina's diagnosed cognitive decline as a starting point to reflect on desire and affection when memory fades. The illness directly affects the protagonist's relationship with her son, Guillem (Oriol Vila), who suddenly "will no longer be cared for because he will have to be the one caring for others," explains the actor. The bond between them will also become a love story, because Guillem will have to learn to love his mother as she ceases to be herself. "He wants to understand her, he gets angry, he apologizes. The show also presents a very interesting generational contrast and is a subtle critique of this generation that is now in its forties and is somewhat fragile," notes Clara Segura. In this sense, Artigau wanted to show with this clash "how at a certain point in life you have to start caring, and that means letting go of the 'I' to move towards the 'we'" and that "problems and traumas are no longer so important." For inspiration, the playwright drew on lived experiences, although the production also incorporates a process of research.

The ferryman by Jez Butterworth, the author of JerusalemIt is a truly exceptional work and theatrical production for several reasons, including its length (three and a quarter hours, plus two intermissions), the number of performers (nineteen), the awards it has won (including the Laurence Olivier), and the record-breaking ticket sales in the history of London's Royal Court Theatre. In Barcelona, ​​its appeal lies in the excellent casting of the Lliure production, the outstanding performances of an intergenerational cast, a staging that captures the best of Julio Manrique, and the prominence of an absent character. But above all, it stems from the resonance it evokes in any community, like ours.

Actor Carles Martínez (Terrassa, 1966) has honed his craft and his passion remains undiminished. Since his debut in 1988, he has participated in nearly 150 shows, as well as several films and television series. A man primarily of the theater, he has just received the Butaca award for best supporting actor by The inheritance -considered The best show of 2025 by the ARA—. If there he shared the stage of the Teatre Lliure with 12 actors, now he returns teaming up with some twenty performers in The ferrymanA production directed by Julio Manrique about an Irish family experiencing a disappearance. "I've just finished a major production and I'm going on to do another one," says Martínez, aware that there aren't many shows of this scale on the Catalan stage. The ferryman It's a play by British playwright Jeff Butterworth, set in Northern Ireland in 1981. At the Lliure Theatre, it's being performed with a cast including Roger Casamajor, Marta Marco, Mima Riera, Ernest Villegas, and Anna Güell. It's one of the season's major premieres and will run from February 5th to March 15th. The text is also available in bookstores, published by Comanegra.

"Why? Why?" And more than 20 whys. That seven-year-old girl on the beach who ignored her father's words not to go into the sea and ended up being rescued amidst a plague of jellyfish is gone. "Why? Why?" The distance It's a dystopian work by director and playwright Tiago Rodrigues about parents' fear for their children's future and also about the hope for a new world that leaves behind the disaster of our humanity. The daughter embarks on a space mission to Mars, where a new society is being built that, to prosper, must forget the past. Forget everything. Forget Earth, even if they want to preserve olive oil made without olives. And the daughter has committed herself to this adventure of no return.

Since their debut in 2017 with Project 92 At the Antic Teatre, Las Huecas—formed by Júlia Barbany, Núria Corominas, and Andrea Pellejero—have established themselves as one of the most interesting and groundbreaking companies on the contemporary scene. With their second show, Those who must not die (2021), they made the leap to Temporada Alta and went on tour. And with the third, About friendshipThey have been performing for two seasons at the Sala Beckett. Now they arrive for the first time at the Teatre Lliure with Cannibal laughterA play co-produced by the National Drama Center (CDN), which has already been performed in Madrid. Taking the rise of the far right as its starting point, the production questions the theatrical methods of politicians who use simplistic rhetoric to win votes. Cannibal laughter Featuring the collaboration of Sofía Asencio and Judit Martín, the performance will be at Espai Lliure from this Friday until February 8th.

A person with Down syndrome was denied access to the public bus because residents didn't trust their behavior. A couple, also with Down syndrome, faced opposition from their neighbors when moving into an apartment and were forced to use the service elevator instead of the residents' elevator. These are two recent examples of the many challenges people with disabilities face daily—often in silence. For the past eight years, the company of choreographer Vero Cendoya It is made up of performers with and without disabilities. "It's not a social project. I look for the people who work best for what I want to express," says the artist. Until now, he had never directly addressed disability and inclusion on stage, but the book A brilliant imperfection Eli Clare's work changed everything.

Language has always been an important issue for playwright and theatre director Caroline Guiela Nguyen (Poissy, France, 1981). Daughter of a Vietnamese mother and a father pied-noir Born into Algerian Jewish heritage, the artist grew up in a home where many languages were spoken, and she didn't always understand them. "My mother decided not to teach me Vietnamese, but she only spoke that language. I needed interpreters to understand her," Guiela explains. The experience stayed with her for many years and resurfaced, especially when she worked in countries with languages she didn't speak. A few years ago, she came into contact with Turkish, Georgian, and Romanian interpreters for hospitalized patients, and it was then that she decided to transform all these experiences into a play. Valentina It's a contemporary fable starring a young girl who must translate from French to Romanian for her mother. The show, one of Teatre Lliure's international offerings for this season, will have three performances in the Sala Fabià Puigserver on January 9, 10, and 11.

"How do we keep people going to the theater when the world is burning?" asks Camille Decourtye, one of the two souls behind Baró d'Evel. This feeling has accompanied the group in recent years and has permeated every scene of Who are we?Their latest show, which arrives this Thursday at the Teatre Lliure in Montjuïc, stems from the question posed in its title—a question prompted by the experience of lockdown—but doesn't expect to provide answers. Like everything created by this multidisciplinary and unclassifiable company (creators of captivating shows such as Cliff, The and Beasts), Who are we? It's a ship to delve into their poetic universe and emerge from it, each with their own conclusions and feelings. "In our 47 years of maturity, there's a need for our work to serve some purpose," summarizes Blaï Mateu, the other founding member of Baró d'Evel. Who are we? They will perform ten exclusive shows in Barcelona, ​​some of which are already sold out.

Like the best circus acts, Catalan theater has taken an even greater leap this year than last. The upward trend in audience numbers continues. It already registered record figures in 2024But by 2025 it has gone even higher, consolidating and surpassing the figure of more than three million viewers and simultaneously increasing revenue. Adding to the year's good news is the opening of a new theater in Barcelona, The Factory, and the birth of a new cycle of theater, Autumn Flashwhich has brought world-class productions to the Catalan capital. The 2025 program featured ambitious shows with well-told and well-performed stories by major companies (what a joy to see so many talented people on stage!), as well as monologues and small-format shows full of depth, featuring actors at their peak. Our theater experts have selected the 10 best shows that graced the program (and the five most important international productions of the year).