Winner of the 2024 MAX Award for Performing Arts for Best Street Performance

Critics Award for Best Show in Street Arts

El Temps de les Arts Award

Premis Teatre Barcelona nominee for Best Show in Street Arts

Carlota Soldevila special assistance creative grants, Teatre Lliure

City of Barcelona 2020 grant

The project

Foucault said that "cemeteries constitute not only the sacred and immortal wind of the city, but rather that they are 'the other city'." The cemetery is one of the most important symbolic spaces of any town. It is a "text" in which you can read the social contradictions of the community, the urban dynamics, the value that is given to life. The cemetery is, in short, a condensed and silent version of the city itself, of its history and character. The etymological origin of the word comes from the Latin coemeterium which literally means bedroom, or dormitory. Ciutat dormitori (Dormitory Town) is a site specific project that proposes a guided visit to the town's local cemetery in order to better understand the idiosyncrasy of the city and the character of its inhabitants. A tour with unexpected encounters with cemetery workers who will tell us their story and broaden our gaze on a place like this.

In short, Ciutat dormitori invites participants to take a critical and collective walk through the cemetery to discover the urban and social dynamics that are put into play in a space like this, with public policies around death and its management, along what is our relationship with work and rest.

The libretto can be downloaded here.

Credits

Guide: Oriol Genís
With the intervention of: Juanjo Biarnés, Sergi García, David Moreno, Victoria Patón and Alberto Seco
With the voices of: ARSinNOVA cor de cambra (Miquel Aguiló, Estel Alcañiz, Núria Ballestar, Elisabet Barroso, Pol Blancafort, Pere Carulla, Laura Farré, Miquel Ferrer, Fermí Herrero, Núria Jordana, Marta Latorre, Èlia Lucas, Joana Martínez-Mora, Maria Mauri, Francesc Minguella, Berta Morató, Gerard Morató, Adrià Pagès, Oriol Prat, Blanca Puig, Alba Ramírez, Quim Rom, Míriam Trias)
With the collaboration of: Bàrbara Roig
Direction: Pau Masaló
Dramaturgy: Pau Masaló and Irena Visa
Music: Adrià Pagès
Musical direction: Maria Mauri
Set and costumes design: Laila Rosato
Production: Clàudia Robert
Thanks to: Cementiris de Barcelona, Adrià Terol, Marta Aladren, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, Carlota Serrahima, Pol Serrahima, Albert Pérez, Martín Torres, Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Modiband and Marc Tàpies
A coproduction by: Contenidos Superfluos and Teatre Lliure
This project has the support of the Barcelona City Council's "Premis Barcelona 2020" Scholarships.

Duration: 120 min.
Language: Catalan & Spanish

Press

Ciutat dormitori is a show that should run for months. It is one of the winning projects of the Extraordinary Grants Carlota Soldevila from Teatre Lliure and one of the Ciutat de Barcelona 2020 Scholarships. Itinerant documentary theater show, pocket opera and Cors de Clavé 2.0. Spending public money on a show like this? I say yes. A resounding yes.
Oriol Puig Taulé – Núvol.com

The form is the key to being captivated by the piece. A kind of liturgical ritual with photocopied libretto in which the voices of a choir are interspersed (with a lyric that exposes desires to burn life with photo albums in exotic cities, urban gentrification, and also an increase in the catalog of death) with the sincere voice of the cemetery workers.
Jordi Bordes – La República

The songs are deeply moving. The Cantonese lyrics are relatable and retain a touch of humor. Between songs, stories from different people are interwoven. Initially, we thought they were fictional characters or real stories reinterpreted by actors. However, upon reading the description in detail, we were surprised to discover that all of them were true stories told by the protagonists themselves.
Jian Shuming – East Week Hong Kong