Last month we were able to enjoy an evening of theatre in Catalan at Queen Mary as part of the conference ‘Catalan Theatre in English: Past, Present & Future’.
Firstly, the UK-based Catalan actress Marina Cusí (Mad, Who? Theatre) performed her work Knock, Knock, Knock: a work in progress in Catalan with English captions. This show explored the power of subtitles and manipulation within monolingual communities through the story of two young antifascist activists living through the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
Afterwards, Crit Teatre treated us to a reworking of the Valencian classic Espill by Jaume Roig. This play was performed entirely in Catalan by Anna Marí and Daniel Tormo, and bilingual guides were available for the audience.
It was a fantastic night of Catalan theatre, followed by a Q&A, and both performances went down a storm. Bravo!
CENTRE FOR CATALAN STUDIES (Queen Mary University of London) 