Digital extremes arrive at the Academy Theater with ‘Burpees’
After his time at the Teatre Principal de Palma and the Temporada Alta festival, burpees arrives at Teatre Akadèmia to offer a reflective and critical look at a very topical issue: digital extremism. Written and directed by Miquel Mas Fiolthe play delves bluntly into the world of masculinity influencers, online communities that promise redemption through effort and self-demand, and the invisible wounds this world engenders.
With a structure of road drama that entices you from the first moment, and a luxurious cast —Ann Perello, Biel Montoro i John Sureda—, burpees it brings to the table questions that cross generations: how can we love someone who thinks completely differently from us? What emotional emptiness lies behind the need to belong? How can a person become a digital extremist?
We meet the three actors in Sants, where they are rehearsing a scene that they repeat over and over again until they polish the smallest gesture. When the session stops, we start talking about who is really the protagonist of burpees.
Teatre Barcelona: Your work emphasizes the relationship between the three characters. How would you define this triangle?
Ann Perelló (AP): It is a triangle of dependence. Sofia is looking for her brother, but she’s actually looking to understand herself.
Biel Montoro (BM): I would say it’s a chain: my character admires Joan’s, Joan’s influences everyone, and Sofia tries to rescue us from this circle.
Joan Sureda (JS): They are three ways of experiencing emptiness. None of the three are at peace. And that’s why they are needed, even if they end up hurting each other.
In your case, Joan, you were the last to join the project. How was the experience of making such a complicated character your own and in such a short time?
JS: Joining the project has been almost a journey of survival. Replacing an actor just days before the premiere has allowed me to see the character without filters, from vulnerability. My character stands for terrible ideas, but you have to love him to play him. If you don’t love it, you don’t understand it. And if you don’t understand it, you’re just making a caricature of it.
What grabbed you most about this project?
BM: The focus It’s a very well told story: he doesn’t judge, he observes. Despite being a subject that must necessarily be approached from an ideological position, it does so without falling into simple or reductionist moral judgments. It would have been very easy to look at these characters from a certain superiority, but the text is complex enough to understand the reason for their actions. This makes her more honest and, at the same time, more human.
Now that you’re putting yourself in these people’s shoes, where do you think the need to follow these social media gurus comes from?
JS: It starts from hopelessness, from living in a chaotic environment where values have blurred and the future is uncertain. When you have no role models, the need to believe in someone who offers you security through discipline, effort, or personal success becomes a beacon for many young people. It is very easy to dismantle these discourses, but at the end of the day, we all need to believe in something. We all cling to certainties that can also crumble overnight.
How do you rate this stay at the Academy Theatre?
PA: The truth is that the whole team is very excited. It is an ideal space for such an intimate story. We come from a large theater like the Principal in Palma, but here we will have the audience touching, almost breathing with us. This will allow us to find an energy that we had not yet discovered.
burpees can be seen at the Academy Theater of November 12 to December 7. A work that speaks the language of the present and connects with the young audience, but that appeals to everyone who wants to look at the world without filters.
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