On November 13, 1961, Pau Casals gave a concert at the White House, with John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline as hosts. The Catalan musician lived in exile and boycotted the countries that supported the Franco regime. For this reason, he thought about it a lot before accepting the invitation from the President of the United States.
But Casals had to weigh the pros and cons and finally decided to accept the invitation: he probably thought he would get more out of it by going, and so he did. Kennedy offered an aura of hope, which the master wanted to take advantage of.
Based on this premise, playwright Jordi Roigé has imagined what these two characters must have said to each other and recreated it in the play A Concert at the White House. “The meeting, instead of the usual five minutes, lasted almost an hour”, he explains.
Under the direction of Llorenç Rafecas, Mingo Ràfols gives life to Pau Casals, Roc Esquius is President Kennedy and Mercè Pons plays fifteen roles, including Jacqueline and Frasquita, the musician’s wife.
The play premieres this Saturday, March 25, at the Àngel Guimerà del Vendrell theater, the hometown of Casals (December 29, 1876), and has 34 more performances planned in the halls of the Xarxa de Teatres d’Ateneus de Catalunya (Xtac), over a few weeks at the Gaudí theater in Barcelona in the autumn.
The production is an initiative of the Federation of Universities of Catalonia, which since 2017 has been producing shows to be performed in its theatres, explains vocalist Carlos Pablos. In this case, “we want to honor the memory of Pau Casals on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death”, on October 22, 1973, in San Juan de Puerto Rico.
“We start from a reality but make fiction – explains the author -. I delved into the life of Pau Casals and, somehow, the figure of Kennedy emerged. Everything we want to explain comes out of their confrontation and dialogue.” The reference to this meeting “already appears in the film Jackie, starring Natalie Portman”, explains Roigé. “And Leonard Bernstein said it was one of the most impactful concerts of his life.”
To underline the importance of the figure of Casals, the playwright recalls that “he composed the anthem of the United Nations and was the promoter of the charity concerts”. Casals never wanted to return to Spain, even though “the Franco regime made several attempts”.
Rafecas adds: “We start from two characters who are historical and who, in addition, made history. Despite the criticism, Casals thinks he can get something out of talking to Kennedy, because he represents something else, even though the US was an ally of Franco. With the war, they had overthrown Hitler and Mussolini and left Franco. what did they say We don’t know, but we start from facts and historical phrases, which we make up”.
The director says that in the work “there is a mixture of message, history and theatrical experience; and with the interpreters we have not sought an imitation, but a likeness”. To put the figure of Casals in context, it should be remembered that he made the speech at the United Nations “I am a Catalan” and got involved against nuclear weapons. “Casals was very famous and he believed that with his boycott he would achieve something”.
Mingo Ràfols, who jokes about his resemblance to the musician, “I’ve also done Pujol”, concludes: “I think that Casals is a character of ours that we all have in our heads, but who is a great unknown”.
