T de Teatre
An unusual and original adventure began when, in May 1991, five young actresses who had just graduated from the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona preferred to take off on their own rather than waste away by the phone waiting for a call from a theatre director.
Llegir-ne mésTheir initiative met with the interest of a fellow graduate, Pere Sagristà, who suggested they read Little Tales of Misogyny by Patricia Highsmith. Fascinated by the scathing, ironic tone of the North American authoress’s tales, they decide to work with them.
To present in society what would be their first show, Petits contes miòsgins (Little Tales of Misogyny), they set up a company which they baptised T de Teatre, a name which, among other things, pays tribute to all the actresses’ love of tea. And a mutual friend, Daniel López-Orós, has been the person in charge of the executive production of their projects since then.
In the creation of this production, they opted for a simple set: two stools, a table, a Formica chair and an armchair were the only props. On the other hand, this austerity in the use of stage props, which would become the norm in their following shows and has the advantage of situating the text in the forefront, laid emphasis on the performance of this text by Mamen Duch, Rosa Gàmiz, Míriam Iscla, Carme Pla and Àgata Roca.
Petits contes miòsgins (Little Tales of Misogyny) was first performed on the alternative circuit (La Cuina, Sala Beckett, Tàrrega Festival of Street Theatre), although the interest this production soon aroused favoured its performance in another type of venue (Mercat de les Flors, Villarroel Teatre), and also the fact that the company began a tour of the peninsula which led to them performing in different festivals and a large number of Spanish cities. The reception from critics and audiences was excellent, and they received the Barcelona Critics’ Award for the Theatrical Revelation of the Season.
Their second theatrical escapade had a masculine title: Homes! (Men!) Here they dissect the opposite sex with texts written by themselves and other stories commissioned to four playwrights. Directed by Sergi Belbel, the show reached the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona in 1995 and ran for six months due to the huge acclaim it received from the audience. Later, it was performed in theatres all over Catalonia during a hectic tour, followed by another around cities in the rest of Spain. During this tour, Rosa Gàmiz decided to embark on a solo career and Marta Pérez became a member of the company.
In August 1995 they arrived in Madrid to cover a space in the summer programme for one and a half months. However, the play was a surprising hit and Homes! (Men!) ran for a whole year at the Teatro Marquina. This decisive success in the capital paved the way for the company’s appearance on commercial circuits. Then, in January 1997, they travelled to Argentina and, for three months, the Teatro La Plaza in Buenos Aires was home to the last performances of Homes! (Men!). They took leave of this city with the promise that they would return to premiere their next show.
In April 1998 they went back to Buenos Aires to keep their promise and premiered Criatures (Toddlers), a production about the world of children, co-directed by T de Teatre and David Plana. In this play only four actresses walk the boards because Àgata Roca worked as assistant director.
In September of the same year, with one eye on the children and the other on the adults, Toddlers found a new home at the Teatro Poliorama in Barcelona and received similar acclaim from the critics and audiences. It was equally well-received during the later tour of Catalonia. In Madrid, it ran for eight months at Teatro Lara. And, after that, the company began a tour of Spain which concluded with its return to the Teatro Poliorama in Barcelona, where it offered the last performances of this play.
Criatures (Toddlers) was nominated best theatre show at the Premios MAX and was awarded a Premi Butaca in the Best Play of The Season category.
In May 2000, in what would be the company’s first appearance on television, T de Teatre began to film Jet Lag for TV3, a sitcom thought up by the company itself and film director Cesc Gay. It reflects, with large doses of humour and sensitivity, the day-to-day life of five friends facing the challenges of modern existence. Jet Lag was a huge success: it pulled in an average audience of 691,000 viewers. They were able to continue working on new episodes, which were broadcast throughout 2002 and 2003.
In September 2003, T de Teatre premiered its fourth show, Això no és vida! (This is no Life at All!) in Artà (Mallorca). Once again directed by David Plana, they presented situations where they take a sarcastic look at the most modern-day obsessive and compulsive behaviour. That same month, they began a long season with this play at the Teatro Poliorama in Barcelona, followed by a tour of Catalonia.
In spring 2004, Jet Lag began its fourth series, which was emitted on TV3, Canal Satélite and Vía Digital. The positive results led to the screening of new episodes in 2005.
In February 2005, coinciding with its tenth anniversary, Homes! (Men!) was revived in Madrid, this time at the Teatro Príncipe. A second company, M de Misògines, was set up for this purpose. It had a new cast which, rather than looking for clones, sought actresses capable of creating their own characters while respecting the company’s particular style.
In February 2006, after over sixty-five episodes, the sixth series of Jet Lag was launched.
On 21 April 2006, the company premiered 15 at the Teatro Auditorio in Granollers, near Barcelona, a show that was conceived with the idea of celebrating the fifteen years of T de Teatre. 15 is now on a long tour of over forty cities in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands and will end up with a season at the Teatre Poliorama in Barcelona.
That same year, T de Teatre received the Butaca honorary award for Professional Achievement (Premis Butaca).
And coinciding with the company’s anniversary a DVD-book will be published with a recording of the show 15 and also totally unknown material, such as images of the first show.
Com pot ser que t’estimi tant (How can it be that I love you so much) is the title of the company’s sixth show, a thriller written and directed by Javier Daulte and premiered in October 2007 at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. The show was given an excellent reception by both public and critics and began a tour of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. Towards the end of August 2008, the show returned to the stage in Barcelona, this time at the Teatre Poliorama where it ran for two months.
When the season in Barcelona came to an end, the actress Míriam Iscla left the company.
The channel TV Paramount Comedy premiered the first three seasons of Jet Lag, dubbed into Spanish by the actresses themselves.
In September 2009, T de Teatre premiered a small musical called Nelly Blue at the Fira de Teatre in Tàrrega (Lleida). This new show is directed and co-created by Marta Pérez. Unlike previous productions, the company’s actresses don’t perform in the show instead the actors are Xavi Mira and Albert Ribalta, the main male protagonists from Jet Lag. The musical has received an enthusiastic welcome by critics and audiences alike and to date it has toured 35 towns in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
Delicades (Delicate women) written and directed by Alfredo Sanzol, opens June 25, 2010 as part of the Grec Festival in Barcelona. He later on brought it for a whole season to the Teatro Español in Madrid, going on tour all over Spain, and to international theater festivals in Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Paris, France. Delicades (Delicate women) was met with an absolute success both from critics and audience.
In November 2012 T de Teatre collaborates a second time with Sanzol with Aventura! (Adventure!) at the Teatre Municipal in Girona as part of the Temporada Alta festival. Following that it went on to Sala Fabià Puigserver, a space of Teatre Lliure in Barcelona, the Teatros del Canal in Madrid and went on tour visiting more than 35 cities in Spain.
Just as 2014 was starting Dones com jo (Women like me) premiered at Teatre Romea in Barcelona, written and directed by Pau Miró the show was met with great support with more than 30.000 people showing up to see it. Once the season was over it embarked on a tour to visit close to 25 theaters in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
After the amazingly rewarding experience that Nelly Blue brought to T de Teatre, they teamed up again with Los Tigres (Xavi Mira and Albert Ribalta) to create a new musical comedy entitled Operació Moldàvia (Operation Moldova). The play was directed by Marta Pérez and premiered at Teatre La Sala in Rubí the summer of 2014.
In 2015 T de Teatre brought to us the show Premis i càstigs (Rewards and punishments) by the Argentinean playwriter and director Ciro Zorzoli. Co-produced by T de Teatre, Teatre Lliure and Grec 2015, the piece seeks to unravel the mysterious concepts in which theatrical truth is cemented. Premis i càstigs was shown at Sala Fàbia Puigserver in Teatre Lliure and Teatro La Abadía in Madrid.
The eleventh show entitled E.V.A. is a comedy that deals with pain written by Marc Artigau, Cristina Genebat and Julio Manrique, the last one also directing it. which commemorates the company’s 25th anniversary. E.V.A. premiered at the Teatre Romea in June 2017 as part of the Festival Grec in Barcelona, and afterward, undertook a long tour through the main theaters of our country and a season at the Kamikaze Pavón theater in Madrid. The show is saying adieu once again at Teatre Romea.
In March 2018, and more than 20 years since the last time the company had visited Argentina, they returned to Paseo La Plaza in Buenos Aires to present Delicadas, and the show garnered great critical and audience acclaim.
With the company Dagoll Dagom they have co-produced the Catalan version of the highly acclaimed comedy by Alfredo Sanzol La ternura. The company actress Marta Pérez plays the character of the queen, Reina Maragda. La tendresa opened in January 2018 at Teatre Poliorama where it had a long run. In September of that year, they undertook a tour around Catalunya.
Once again within the framework of the Grec Festival de Barcelona, the company’s twelfth play premiered, Cançó per tornar a casa. A fanciful proposal with humor and touches of drama written and directed by Denise Despeyroux, one of the most outstanding voices in Spain’s contemporary theater scene.
N as in Numbers
T de Teatre has created eleven shows, acted in more than 2700 shows and brought to the theaters close to a million people.
T de Teatre
Mamen Duch
Marta Pérez
Carme Pla
Àgata Roca
Daniel López-Orós
Rosa Gàmiz (ex-member and co-founder)
Míriam Iscla ex-member and co-founder)
Pere Sacristà (ex-member and cofounder)
Directors
Alfredo Sanzol
Pau Miró
Ciro Zorzoli
Julio Manrique
Javier Daulte
Sergi Belbel
Cesc Gay
David Plana
Denise Despeyroux
Collaborators
Albert Ribalta – Actor
Jordi Rico – Actor
Alejandro Andújar – Scenographer and costume designer
Marc Rodríguez – Actor
Fernando Velázquez – Composer
David Ruano – Photography
Marco Mezquida – Composer
Enric Jardí – Graphic designer
Òscar Roig – Composer
Carlos Lucena – Lighting designer
Eva Fernández – Characterization
Albert Faura – Lighting designer
Maria Armengol – Costume designer
Damien Bazin – Sound designer
Cortana – Costumes
Xavi Mira – Actor
Ivan Benet – Actor
Chantal Aimée – Actress
Carolina Morro – Actress
Roc Mateu – Sound designer
Jon Berrondo – Stage designer
Maria Lanau – Actress
Eli Iranzo – Actress
Web
Enric Jardí – Design
Marc Permanyer – Web
David Ruano -Photography
Pau Ros – Photography
Pep Ribes – Photography
Sònia Balcells – Photography
Kiku Piñol – Photography
Noemí Elias – Photography
Carol López – Texts
Xavier Muniesa – Texts
La Correccional – Corrections
Staff
Daniel López-Orós – Management and executive production
dani@tdeteatre.com
Rubèn Taltavull – Technical manager
direcciotecnica@tdeteatre.com
Emi Rojo – Administration
administració@tdeteatre.com
Roberta Romero – Comunicació comunicacio@tdeteatre.com
Marta Garolera – Stage manager
Jordi Fort – Stage props
Roger Ábalos – Sound operator