Barcelona theater Sala Beckett takes Catalan language play to Slovenia

The Barcelona Sala Beckett theater will perform the 'Casa Calores' play in Catalan language in Slovenia on April 1.

Playwright Pere Riera's show will be performed in Kranj as part of the Drama of Smaller European Languages (DoSEL), a European theater scheme promoting plays written in minority languages, including Catalan, Slovenian, Maltese, Estonian, and Bulgarian among others.

The idea is to "promote theater written in minority languages," Víctor Muñoz, project manager at Sala Beckett in Barcelona, told Catalan News. 

Beckett scheduled 'Casa Calores' last season. In Slovenia, it will be performed coinciding with the 55th edition of the theater festival, Week of Slovenian Drama, which has been going on for many decades and "has a very loyal public," Muñoz told this media outlet.

When the Beckett theater planned which play to take to Slovenia, they knew it had to be a Catalan play written in Catalan and that it would "talk about current and nowadays Catalonia," Muñoz said regarding Pere Riera's work.

'Casa Calores' tells the story of a group of friends born in a seaside town and explains their relationships throughout the years. It takes place in the 1980s and 90s. Despite the language, playwright Riera believes spectators will be able to understand the story, as "there is no better way to be universal than starting from a local perspective."

He told this media outlet that he believes the story will be understood without any problem regardless of being "written in another language and played in a different country."

Exploring the partnership

The theater scheme, DoSEL, is under an "exploration" phase. Víctor Muñoz said that participants did not know each other before the project started.

The first edition will serve as "a way to explore the partnership" and will consist of this year's performances in Slovenia and next year's performances in Malta. However, Muñoz does not rule out asking for more financial aid to continue with the scheme for four more years.

In the future, the Beckett theater would like to be the host city to welcome other plays written in minority languages.