Joglars

Joglars is the oldest theatre company of Europe now under the direction of Ramon Fontserè after the departure of Albert Boadella.

Joglars have maintained their critical style of theatre that directly addresses current issues. They were imprisoned for this reason and were tried in a military court for performing a play, La Torna, in 1977. Even after this, in democracy, they had problems with controversy with other plays. The company thus gained popularity over time due to being one of the most critical and outspoken voices in Spanish society.

The history of Joglars is one of constant research and investigation and construction of a theatrical language that takes the school of classical mime as its starting point and incorporates every possible dramatic element. Its working formula is based on creative group work that entails a high level of personal and professional involvement, either corporately or independently. The company is clearly one in which work comes before all else; it follows an strict system and works full time, involving very long hours – all of which makes for a dynamic system of work that is constantly developing.

The Joglars rehearsal room, a geodesic dome in the middle of a forest 100 km from Barcelona, is the ideal observation room, providing a truly universal view of the ways of preserving power in various fields and areas. This is Joglars’ main theme and today, more than fifty years after the group was founded, this theme is being played out in thousands of performances of more than 40 theatrical works in over twenty countries in Europe and America. It is also the subject of television and cinema productions and various books and research studies on the company’s activities.

The most emblematic plays are La Torna (1977), Teledeum (1983), Yo tengo un tío en América ​​(1991), Ubú president (1995), Daaalí (1999) and La Cena (2008).

In 2018, the company premiered Señor Ruiseñor, a current work that puts his great dose of humor, satire, grotesque, irony and joke in the context of the Catalan conflict, treating it with ingenuity, daring and a lot of freshness.