Jordi Prat i Coll adapts ‘The spider’ by Guimerà to the TNC
The National Theater of Catalonia (TNC), recovers until March 9 in the Sala Gran, The spiderone of the most unknown works ofAngel Guimeràwith a new adaptation of the playwright and director Jordi Prat i Coll. The proposal transfers the action of modernist Barcelona from the beginning of the twentieth century to Franco’s Girona of the late sixties with a text that explores social tensions and repressed desires.
Prat i Coll places, in this case, Guimerà’s work in a grocery store, a space that is familiar to him because his childhood passed in a similar establishment run by his parents. “I wanted to talk about normal people, like my parents, trapped between suffocating routine and Franco’s repression,” says the director. The adaptation has also been an exercise in historical reconstruction. Prat i Coll has worked in detail the language of the characters, who speak with a Catalan typical of Girona, and has included cultural and musical references of the time, such as Eurovisive songs of Raphael and Mountain range or traditional pieces performed by the Young Choir of the Orfeó Català.
Guimerà’s Infertility and Personal Ghosts
The central theme of The spider It is the infertility and tensions that this generates in the protagonist couple, interpreted by Mima Riera and Albert Ausellé. This question, however, goes beyond the personal drama of the characters and connects with Guimerà’s biography. “It is no coincidence that in this play, for the first time in his theater, the theme of non -offspring appears,” says the director: “I think Guimerà writes from a personal perspective, from desire and frustration.” Prat i Coll sets a parallel with Yerma of Federico García Lorcaemphasizing how both playwrights channeled in their writing the conflict between desire and social structure.
Prat i Coll does not shy away from the debate on the sexuality of Guimerà, an aspect that has often been silenced. “He was gay. Why do you find it so hard to admit today? “Asks the director. This reading enriches the interpretation of The spidermaking it clear that the Guimerà Theater – like many other authors – hides between tensions and personal experiences that resonate in its dramatic universe.
The cast also has actors such as Jan D. Casablancas, Berta Giraut, Star Ibars, Paula malia, Jordi Rico, Ferran Soler, Jordi Vidal and Meritxell Yanes.
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