Julio Manrique receives La Vanguardia in the office in the tower of the Teatre Lliure de Montjuïc building as the new director. This February, Juan Carlos Martel debuted in the relevant position and, although he is still landing, he has clear ideas. Today, the proposal that he submitted to the competition that chose him is made public, and he has already added modifications: “It’s normal, we don’t stop going around”.
In the statement of intentions, you say this sentence: “A stone thrown at the moon”.
Sometimes you have to shoot hard, even if you know the shot won’t land where you shoot. The stone won’t reach the moon, but it might touch a lamppost along the way and that’s no small thing. I think you have to be ambitious in a good way, or in what you think is a good way. And to go to all of them, with enthusiasm, with passion and with courage.
The project you presented is a statement of intent.
That’s right, yes. I try to project a view on my job, on the theater, and on what could be done at the Free Theatre. In our trade, theory comes after practice, because it’s a trade, and I don’t believe much in rigid programs. There are many ways to approach things. You have to start walking and then what happens is that life is stronger than the ideas you had written down. In other words, I was very aware that I had to enter this house, get to know it, see what was going on, to know where it was appropriate to walk.
In the project you indicate the creation of a young company, but you have already rectified it.
The companies that existed in the Lliure, in the time of Àlex Rigola and Lluís Pasqual, bore very powerful fruits. In the case of Àlex, he allowed El Lliure to tour the world with his company, as happens with other theaters in Europe and abroad, and in the case of Lluís’ companies, because he has generated a seed of ‘actors, many of whom have made a very notable place in the profession.
Why don’t you create one?
The idea of ??the company generates a certain hives among the administrations. I already knew that, but once I landed here I saw it even more. I can understand why, because it has pros and cons, you always discriminate in favor of a few, with resources that belong to all.
And you change it to the Free Soul Project. That is?
The world of functional diversity matters to me on many levels, both as a director of a theater with a vocation for public service, and on a personal level. Clàudia Cedó, who is linked to my project, interested me as a creator, director and author, and also because she founded the Escenaris Especials platform, with more than 15 years of experience. She has done great things, which have crystallized in shows such as Sugar Mama. I wanted to do something about functional diversity and, talking to her, in the end it’s about giving the possibility for bodies, voices, people that we’re not used to seeing on a stage to get on stage, that in some cases, if they have talent, they can shine very brightly. In a way that makes me very happy and excited, many complicities are appearing with contributions and sponsorships. We want the project to revolve around working with functional diversity from an artistic point of view, and with the philosophy that there is no condescending look.
In the program you talk about putting art at the center.
Art is a territory of contradiction, of complexity, therefore, finally, of humanity. We will explain the program in June. It will be the epicenter of everything and from here the rest will radiate. I think it will be exciting and decidedly contemporary. I do not exclude the repertoire with views from our here and now, but not archaeology. There will be multidisciplinary languages, hybrid territories; there will be creation, Catalan and international authorship; there will be links with interesting foreign companies and theaters, with whom I would also like to work in the future to establish partnerships.
Will there be room for classical Catalan theatre?
I have to confess that I don’t. There is obviously the possibility of a Guimerà being made here, but it is not one of my focuses of interest. I can’t even see it from Teatre Lliure, especially since the TNC exists. But I do feel the desire and somewhat the responsibility to take care of Catalan authorship, understood in the widest possible way, which can sometimes be supported by classic texts. Juan Mayorga used to tell me that these great plays are what led us to do theatre.
What were they, in your case?
Some Chekhov, which should come as little surprise, and also Shakespeare, Molière and Lorca.
As for the audience, would it matter to you, as someone said, if the rooms were not filled?
Absolutely not. A public theater is not as dependent on the box office as a private theater, but public money must be invested to give tools to artists, to make some grow, to generate social impact, but also to make things that interest the public. This is a dialogue, not a monologue. This responsibility cannot be avoided, which is very dizzying because it may happen that what we propose is not of interest. If so, I will experience the pain of certain failure. It also happens to me as a stage manager. I care that the audience connects with what we do, but that doesn’t mean you have to please them at all costs.
Will the residence policy remain the same?
not very well In addition to the Free Spirit Project, we will support creation and artists, but in a broader way. We want to set up productions with more or less emerging artists or companies so that they can do their shows and be able to exhibit them for a sufficient time, and then we will try to accompany them so that they go out.
In the program you announce that Espai Lliure will resume regular programming.
Some of my first directions were at Espai Lliure, in the Rigola era, such as American buffalo and La forma de les cosas. And also from people of my generation: Carol López, Jordi Oriol… Very nice things happened there, at Espai Lliure, and since I think that the city is not full of theaters, I want to recover it as a space of ‘permanent exhibition, I want it to serve so that the shows have a reasonably long life. I think that this aspect of the theater is also about giving time to the audience that comes, so that the artists can repeat and the productions grow. It will also host the Theater Institute’s IT project. The collaboration between the neighbors of the square makes a lot of sense.
When you were nominated, you stated that you wanted to play.
Playing has to do with the joy of theatre. I don’t want to die buried under a mountain of reports. I want to remain very connected to the stage and to the people who work from the stage, with whom we share the game of believing in something, a game of serving something, of telling you a story. And that is the essence. If I notice that I’m straying too far from this essence, I’ll ask someone to hit me over the head with a frying pan to wake me up.
Will you continue to direct?
Probably, yes. At least initially, but I don’t rule out doing everything.
How to act?
Yes. I don’t rule out res.
