Open air performances to dominate theatre festival FiraTàrrega 2015

Barcelona (CNA).- Open air performances in all its shapes and disciplines “will rule” FiraTàrrega 2015, one of the most important theatre festivals in Catalonia, which starts this Thursday. FiraTàrrega has always been focused on street art and the majority of the shows on the festival’s programme have always been performed outdoors, “it is part of the festival’s DNA”, stated art director of FiraTàrrega, Jordi Duran. More than 50 international companies will take part in the festival and 30 of the 248 plays and performances programmed for this year’s edition will be premieres. FiraTàrrega, which will be held from the 10th to the 13th of September, is a consolidated festival that each year turns the small eastern town of Tàrrega into an international creative hub.  

80% of the shows will be made up by theatre, live music, circus arts, magic acts and many other disciplines with a common feature: the street is their stage. “Street art rules in this year’s edition of FiraTàrrega” stated the festival’s art director Jordi Duran, who added that these disciplines and the public spaces in which they take place “have always made up FiraTàrrega’s DNA”.

More tickets sold and more companies invited

Over 150,000 people are expected to visit FiraTàrraga during the four-day festival. 40% more tickets were booked in advance compared to last year and there are already 20 performances that are fully booked. The number of enlisted professionals has also exceeded 2014’s figure, with 796 professionals from 489 organisations taking part. 437 of the professionals are Catalan, 104 are Spanish and 255 are from abroad.

This increase is due to ‘Fresh Street’, the first European seminar for the Development of Street Art which was held from the 9th-11th of September in Barcelona and Tàrrega. The event has brought together over 200 key cultural figures (professionals, artists, cultural policy makers, critics and journalists) to draw a general picture of the atmosphere in Europe today and reflect upon how we can imagine the street art of tomorrow.

3 major shows to open the festival

One of the novelties of the 2015 edition will be three major shows on the first day of the festival. Mexican theatre group, ‘Vaca 35’ will exhibit their new piece ‘Cuando todos pensaban que habiamos desaparecido’ (When everyone thought that we had disappeared), a theatrical experience that blends gastronomy, theatrical fiction and reality.

In the afternoon, the Sharon Fridman Company will open the Sant Josep pavilion with ‘Caida Libre’ (Free Fall), a powerful and elegant choreography inspired by contemporary Western society, about the solidarity that is established between people in times of crisis.

At night, the performance will turn to the inaugural show of ‘Insectotròpics’ with 'Compra'm' (Buy Me), a live cinema experience that reflects on happiness and its limits. This theatre piece will recreate the Greek myth Pandora's Box as a metaphor for modern society, through music, painting, theatre and live video and will question the idea of a consumer society.

International participants

International companies such as the ‘Company Chameleon’ from the UK, and ‘Cortez-Fontán’ from Argentina will attend the festival, but there will also be Catalan companies, such as ‘Marga Socias’ and ‘En Diciembre’. There will be a space dedicated solely to urban dance called ‘Urban Nation’ which is coproduced by FiraTàrrega and the New York Summerstage festival.

‘Open Programme’

FiraTàrrega will also count on the direct participation of private companies in order to boost the sector. The ‘Open Programme’ is one of the five sections that will make up the programme for the festival and will involve private management companies making proposals in an entertaining atmosphere. A total of 10 companies will make up the initiative.