The Grec Festival
Grec Festival of Barcelona each year
PERPETUAL MOVEMENT
When, in 1976, a group of Barcelona theatre professionals commandeered the Teatre Grec in order to organise a festival aimed at breathing fresh, vibrant life into what had become an outdated dramatic arts scene, they were driven by a desire for change and a curiosity that, even today, form part of the Grec's principal identifying qualities.
The legacy left by that first festival still continues to infuse the Grec, though (needless to say) transformed, adapted and renewed in a process of constant change. The Grec Festival is a living organism, one that ceaselessly evolves and adapts. That is why, this year, we sought new challenges, new barriers to overcome... and we found them!
Firstly, to design the festival image, the organisers once more commissioned an artist, Frederic Amat on this occasion, who has engaged intensely with the world of the theatre throughout his career. It is no surprise, therefore, that besides creating the 2010 Festival image, Amat also proved the ideal partner to help us to successfully meet one of the great challenges we set ourselves this year: to produce a show in cooperation with a Japanese theatre company. The result, an enthralling fusion of Mediterranean and Japanese sensibilities, is certain to become one of the highlights on the festival programme this year.
For, this time around, our sights are set further than afield than ever: on Japan, where the organisers have found the most fascinating shows to enrich the programme. But we have aimed our gaze closer to home, with younger spectators in mind. To this end, we produced opera for family audiences in a project led by the Grec but which also attracted the involvement of opera houses all over Spain.
Finally, as we all know, there is strength in union, and if you are looking to do something new, then why not join forces with another of the city's most groundbreaking festivals, Sónar? That is the thinking behind another project, one whose venue will be the Teatre Grec, epicentre of the whole festival, and which will serve to launch both the Sónar International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art and the Panorama Japan section at the Grec. This innovative initiative brings into play all the experimentation and taste for the avant-garde that is the essence of our festival, something that no doubt would have delighted the first festival organisers.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Grec! Welcome, spectators one and all, to a festival in perpetual movement.
Ricardo Szwarcer
Director, Grec Festival of Barcelona