Modern Catalan Plays: The Quarrelsome Party, the Audition, Desire, Fourplay

Modern Catalan Plays by John London

Four plays from the rich theatrical world of Catalan drama

Since the early 1990s, Catalonia has proven to the world that its rich heritage and artistic tradition are worthy of focus and study. The plays in the volume reflect the post-Franco era during which Barcelona and other parts of Catalonia have become the focal point for new dramatic expression.

Joan Brossa (1919-1998) was the spiritual father of this new wave of artistic revolution in writing. His play The Quarrelsome Party is a dark family drama as surreal as any bad dream. The Audition by Rodolf Sirera has its roots in the author’s anti-Franco stance. This in-the-theatre drama has the mystery cat-and-mouse playfulness of Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth. Benet i Jornet’s play Desire is a Beckettian mystery play about four unnamed characters. Sergi Belbel represents the new generation of Catalan playwrights and his plays have had wide appeal abroad. In Fourplay he experiments with the idea of a sex farce and the play’s 38 scenes lead to wild conclusions.