Big international presence in new season of Barcelona's Teatre Lliure

The new season of Barcelona’s Teatre Lliure has been presented, with a big international presence on the bill.

One of the main highlights, though, is ‘Mount Olympus’, a 24 hour cathartic spectacle from the mind of Jan Fabre. The full-on, non-stop erotic mega-montage will hit the theatre’s stage next June as it continues its tour around the globe.

A total of 41 shows are on the 2018/2019 agenda, 15 of which are produced by the Teatre Lliure itself. Some of the main themes featuring this season are feminisim, racism, migration, and historic memory, and the relationship between East and West.

French company Les Hommes Approximatifs will bring their play ‘Saigon’ to the Catalan stage. Directed by Caroline Guiela Nguyen, it tells of life in exile  between Ho Chi Minh City and Paris through the backdrop of a Vietnamese restaurant.  

The season has been billed as “contemporary in another way.” Theatre director Lluís Pasqual explained how some of the ever-present issues being tackled in shows at the Teatre Lliure this season were previously marginalized.

“If we look at each one, we would never suspect that they are a theatre season, but rather the problems we have to solve as a society,” he said. “The theatre cannot solve them, but it can make them more obvious.”

Familiar shows will also be returning, including ‘Jane Eyre’ directed by Carme Portaceli, and ‘Before retirement’ by Krystian Lupa.