“Els feréstecs”, returns to the Teatre Lliure

Following last year’s success, Lluís Pasqual’s staging of Carlo Goldoni’s Els feréstecs (The Boors, aka The Cantankerous Men), returns to the Teatre Lliure. The comedy was first performed in Italy in 1760 and offered a comic, critical perspective on the playwright’s bourgeois lifestyle around the end of the 18th century. In the play, four conservative merchants plan a marriage of convenience, but, thanks to the free-spirited, liberal nature of those concerned, the situation takes some unexpected turns, leading to an entirely unexpected outcome.

Pasqual’s staging, first performed last May, received five awards in the latest edition of the Butaca Awards: best theatrical staging, direction, supporting actress (Laura Conejero), wardrobe and characterisation. In addition to Conejero, the ten-person cast of Els feréstecs includes Laura Aubert (much acclaimed for her portrayal of Llucieta), Jordi Bosch, Boris Ruiz and Rosa Renom.

When translating the play, Lluís Pasqual paid close consideration to the peculiarities of the original Venetian dialect and used Catalan dialects as a means of maintaining poetic fidelity. In addition, the director transports the Venetian, bourgeois, 18th-century-society setting to Catalonia at the time of the 1st Spanish Republic, with surprising results.

Els feréstecs returns to the Teatre Lliure, Montjuïc, from the 7th of May to the 1st of June. Prices run from 22 to 29 euros and further information is available on the Teatre Lliure website.