Ignasi, a 70-year-old retiree, decides to learn to play the drums and hires Rita, a 25-year-old anthropologist who plays in a rock band and gives lessons to make a living, as a teacher. The intergenerational friendship that is created between these two characters is the plot of Cat falling (gatcaient), the comedy written by Gerard Florejachs, which opens this evening (8pm) at the Aquitània Teatre, in Barcelona. and will be on the billboard until October 1.
But Cat falling, or Aka Katfolling, as the figure in the subtitle, has a double attraction: Ignasi and Rita, the only two characters in the play, are played by the actors Ricard Borràs (67) and Aina Borràs (27) , father and daughter in real life.
“I’ve been in this profession for 50 years and for me it’s very nice to be able to pass the generational relay on stage to my daughter, despite the fact that I have no intention of retiring, as long as my body holds out”, says Ricard Borràs proudly to this newspaper “We always talked in the family that when the opportunity arose we would work together in the theater, and it has been like that,” explains Aina. But, in addition, with this work the actress can overcome a childhood trauma: “when I was little I wanted to play the drums, but my parents told me ‘any instrument but the drums’, so as not to disturb the neighbors. And now that I have already graduated as an actress, I had to learn to play the drums for this play. They are connections between the stage and the family”.
Ricard Borràs, in addition to being the protagonist, is the director. The music is by his son Roger and produced by Botarga, created by the actor himself and his wife Liza Frediani. “Being a producer is the only possible way to do what you want. You need money, but it’s an exciting challenge, because if you invest badly it will be the last production”, Ricard explains with a laugh, that this is his fifth theatrical production. Aina agrees with her father’s words: “I too would like to be able to do what I want, but it is complicated, I have seen it in the case of my parents. I have bet everything to be an actress and I realize that I lack training in marketing or economics, which are necessary to complement my work”.
Currently, Aina works in an English-language theater company that performs in schools and civic centers throughout Catalonia: “It’s very enriching and a great school, because we perform five days a week and we do everything for a decent salary.” His father, Ricard, explains: “I, in my seventies, when I started I couldn’t imagine that I could make a living as an actor and I’ve been doing this for half a century; on the other hand, today’s young people are very well prepared, but they have no future because there is insecurity”.
In his 50-year career, Ricard Borràs has been part of the cast of cinematographic successes such as L’orgia, theaters such as Glups! or The dinner of idiots or TV shows like Makinavaja. “I worked a lot – comments the actor – and, since I didn’t want to lose my children’s childhood, they came with me on tour at the weekends and since they were little they have experienced the world of theater from the inside and not from external fascination”. “I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an actress when I saw my father perform, or when I asked questions to the stagehands or the costume managers”. “I never pretended that my children would be actors, and now the only advice I have given her is to be herself,” says the father. But Aina could also have worked in the circus. It is the sixth generation of the Frediani family, well known as acrobats and jugglers: “My nonna (grandmother) always gave us circus elements for Christmas, such as stilts, so that we could develop a skill. And, although I have not dedicated myself to the circus, it has given me rigor and discipline in my work, because if the artists are not, they can get hurt.”
