El Grec 2016 reveals the full programme
El Grec presented its programme today. From 1 to 31 July, Barcelona will be filled with one hundred and forty-one circus, music, dance and theatre proposals.
This year, the Barcelona Grec Festival turns forty and will be celebrating with a programme of one hundred and forty-one theatre, dance, music and circus proposals, a whole range of free events for everyone and numerous parallel activities aimed at professional and general audiences.
El Grec, which has become one of the benchmark international arts festivals, will open the programme on 1 July at the Teatre Grec with The Crucible by Arthur Miller, directed by Andrés Lima, and a cast headed by Lluís Homar.
The festival will kick off the day before on Plaça Margarida Xirgu with an opening party for everyone performed by the Orquestra Plateria, which is also celebrating its 40th anniversary with special guests such as Jaume Sisa, Rocky Muntanyola and Joan Manel Serrat. On 5 July, this same square plays host to the Maibaum installation; on 7 and 8 July, La Central del Circ will be performing there, while on 21 and 22 July, the square is home to dance with La partida. To end, on 31 July there will be the Grec closing party with performances by Chico Trujillo and Sense Sal.
Through its programme, El Grec wants to contribute to our understanding of today's world, asking questions of the viewer, comparing ideas and establishing a proactive dialogue. In this sense, this year's festival programme focuses on key concepts, such as dialogue, creation, hybridisation and conflict, seen as a necessary space in which to establish different interests without resorting to violence.
In recent years, El Grec has also become a festival of creation. This year, there will be forty-five home-grown productions and co-productions, and seven international co-productions, such as Le mouvement de l’air, by Adrien M and Claire B, Oficina per a una vida postidèntica, directed by M. Rebstock, Gulliver's Dream, by R. Olbeter and Birdie, by the Agrupación Señor Serrano, to name but a few.
The international aim of El Grec is displayed in the exhibition of performances that can be seen for the first time in Catalonia. This includes theatre proposals such as De stille kracht, by Ivo van Hove and Platonov, by Chekhov, directed by Luk Perceval The dance programme includes the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company / Rami Be’er, the Alonzo King Lines Ballet and other leading names on the international scene.
El Grec will also be staging examples of the current local scene through co-productions and theatre premières, such as Feuerbach, La note d’à côté, Estació Tèrminus, Ciutat de vidre, F.R.A.U, Tata Mala and many more pieces.
As well as premières, the festival will also be staging performances that have been seen in Barcelona, such as Port Arthur, directed by Jordi Casanovas, and Conillet, by Marta Galán Sala.
As part of El Grec, there will be a new edition of the International Performing Arts Meeting (IPAM), a festival whose aim is to exchange ideas about stage creation and which seeks to bring about new artistic projects.
El Grec revealed the music and MiniGrec programme in April.
You can check out the full El Grec programme (music, dance, circus theatre and all parallel activities) on the festival website.
Barcelona Grec Festival
Public opening party: 30 June, at 8.30 pm
Festival: 1 to 31 July
More information on the Grec Festival de Barcelona website