Frank Capdet: “Without theater there is no culture, and without culture there is no future”

Today we celebrate the theater. The space where the word becomes flesh and emotions, where truth and fiction are confused to make us more human. Theater is resistance, it is memory, it is a tool of social transformation that connects us with our past, our present and, please, our future. And, despite its importance, theater is often ignored, precarious and relegated to invisibility.

But we continue at the foot of the curtain, stepping on stages, living the workplace instability,
combining jobs outside the sector in order to survive or feel guilty by
Belong to that 8% of performers who can earn a living exclusively with our profession or to relate to some of the theater families in the country. Those who do theater know that our trade is passion and sacrifice, but that it is too often unnecessary sacrifice, unfair and deterrent. And in spite of everything, we love the theater for what it leaves us and what it leaves us. And not only do we love it: we defend it.

Because without theater, the world would be a darker and empty place. Just as the world of theater would also be a darker and empty place without stage diversity. With the theater
Document we set out the truth that is uncomfortable, and with good comedy is the
Refuge of free spirits. But why are those who are trying to discredit musical theater?

Musical theater is a genre that has often been despised in public theater programs, despite being a vibrant, popular creation space and high artistic requirement. We cannot talk about a theater committed to its society if a part is so essential for creators and the public. May the institutions put on the batteries! It is necessary to strengthen and consolidate this timid recognition of musical theater within the public circuit, which seems to now begin to react: enough to invisible a genre that implements our talent, complements our culture and, (attention!, Which seems to be the only language they understand) generates public and is profitable as economically and socially! Music theater is a future investment!

The reluctance of those who consider the musical genre as a trivial, as a minor art, despite hundreds of jobs and millions of euros of budget and collection, is sad. PSSS! Eh! Yes, you can tell us what they have of trivial or minor art The miserable? Or Hadestown? Or Next to normal? Oh, shut up! Referring to the great musicals supposedly intended for the family audience! Well then let me tell you that there is no more persuasive story so that a girl understands the need for female empowerment in order to end toxic masculinities that The beautiful and the beast. And that if you want to enjoy an anti -fascist party, do not miss Wicked.

And yes: we are motivated. The enthusiasm, the esteem for the theater and its defense led us to twin on theAssociation of Actors and Professional Directors of Catalonia It’s been over 40 years ago. Its Executive Board is composed of colleagues like us, who seek life just as well or badly as us, but who use their time and disposition to fight for the profession and the sector as we do not. Consideration. The same as I ask society and institutions for theater and, more specifically, for musical theater, I ask the profession for the colleagues who consecrate their time in the collective cause. Recognition.

Because this is a holiday: 2024 has been the best year in the theater history
Catalan! More than three million viewers in Catalonia show that the industry works. But let’s not forget that, as in the time of the Tespis car or in the comics of the legua or in the independent theater, most of us continue to pursue our own projects: writing the texts, looking for the bowls, driving the van, mounting and dismantling … This is how the theater is loved and defended!

Today we call on all the people who love and defend the theater: Fill in the rooms, support the creators, claim the power of the scene. In institutions, we demand commitment and respect. And to all of us who live for this art, we continue to fight. Because without theater there is no culture, and without culture there is no future. Without culture there is vile fascism. Actor

Frank Capdet
Actor