The 37th Mostra Igualada presents a program with 41 shows that connect imagination, critical thinking and new scenic languages

This spring, the capital of Anoia will once again become the epicenter of performing arts for all audiences in Catalonia with the 37th Mostra Igualada , which will be held from April 16 to 19. The new edition, which debuts artistic direction by actor and stage director Joan Arqué , will bring together 39 companies with 41 shows that will offer 114 performances in various spaces in the city, forming a program that combines theater, dance, circus, music, puppets and installations.

With a diverse and transversal programming , this year's Festival is committed to proposals that combine scenic innovation, social commitment and new artistic languages, with shows that dialogue with contemporary issues such as mental health, emotions, coexistence between generations, memory or the relationship with the territory.

As every year, Mostra Igualada will bring together hundreds of professionals from the sector, who will visit Igualada to discover new creations and configure the family programming of theaters and festivals throughout the territory. At the same time, the fair continues to work to promote the internationalization of participating companies. La Llotja , located in the Encavallades of the Museu de la Pell, will once again be the epicenter of professional activities and a meeting space between companies, programmers and cultural agents.

The 37th Igualada Festival in numbers

This year the Mostra Igualada has received 874 applications from companies , of which the artistic direction has selected 39. Of these, 27 are Catalan , 8 from the rest of the State and 4 international . Over four days, 114 performances will be held in 17 performance spaces . This year , 2 absolute premieres and 7 premieres in Catalonia will be seen .

As of March 17, there are already more than 450 professionals and 250 accredited entities . It is estimated that the number will increase to reach a thousand accredited ones during the days of the Fair. This year, the Fair will be visited by twenty professionals from Finland, Belgium, Turkey, the Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Denmark, Lithuania, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, France, Croatia, Germany and Mexico ; and will have around fifty volunteers and about fifteen host families .

The programming

The programming of the 37th edition seeks a balance between genres, formats and ages, with 41 theater, dance, circus, music, clown and participatory installations .

The theatrical proposals include fifteen productions that explore new scenic languages and contemporary perspectives. Among these we find Lumiero by La Menuda , a poetic universe of light and shadows for the little ones; A casa by Cia. Ortiga , a wordless story with puppets and objects about the meaning of home; Komunumo by Eléctrico 28 , an urban fable about care and coexistence; Fosca , by Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou , a show that combines music, body and light to explore darkness as a space for creation and imagination; Hola, ràbia! by Cia. La Banda , an immersive experience to explore how we experience this emotion; Un 8 by Cia. Inflable , a piece that reflects on grief, the farewell process and memory through an immersive scenic device; La favola di Peter by Principio Attivo Teatro (Italy), a delicate visual dialogue between a man and his shadow; Everything/Rien by Cie. Modo Grosso (Belgium), an elegant circus of objects inspired by the passage of time; A wheel that turns (between water mills and other things in danger of extinction) by Almealera (Madrid), a scenic homage to the stories and knowledge of the rural world; Manual for living beings by La Mula , a visual and ironic reflection on the power of words; Artemis by Cia. Gèminis , a musical monologue about identity, mental health and family reconciliation; Bad Moon by Cia. Migrants , a theatrical thriller inspired by real testimonies about obsessive-compulsive disorder; Manual by Coriolis Teatro de Objetos (Madrid/Uruguay), a piece of visual theatre that transforms hands and everyday gestures into scenic universes; Spasticity by Marc Buxaderas , an autobiographical monologue that addresses functional diversity with humor and sensitivity; and Jovent from Mambo Project , a documentary proposal that reflects on the future with the real testimony of young people through elderly actors.

Five puppet and object theatre proposals are also presented , which explore this language from contemporary perspectives: Loop by Cia. La Puntual , a visual spectacle set in an imaginary constellation; Bruixanteris by La Guilla Teatre , a show full of humor and magic about family relationships and what happens when we grow up; El bosque de Coco by La Buena Compañía (Andalusia), which transports the audience to a neural forest to explore the emotions of a child facing the separation of his parents; and the proposals of the Canadian company SNAFU Dance Theatre Society with Epidermis Circu s and SNAFU Society of Unexpected Spectacles with The Baby Tyler Show , which will open the 37th Mostra Igualada with a fascinating cabaret full of wit and emotion with puppets, objects and live projections.

In the field of dance , the Festival presents five pieces that explore the body and movement from very different perspectives. This is the case of Ona from La Súbita , a sensory creation for early childhood that explores the invisible vibrations of the world; Semilla by Compagnie Tea Tree (Belgium), which combines dance and circus to talk about growth, imagination and creativity; Sadnessländ by Cia. Carla Sisteré , a piece of contemporary dance and physical theater about the search for happiness; Caribe Mix '23 by Mar Garcia and Javi Soler , which shows “the other side of the Pop-Star” through the recording of a music video; and Dummies by Wako Danza , a duet that plays with the fragility of the balance between two bodies.

As for the circus , you can see eight shows that combine risk, poetry and stage innovation. Among them we find Tartana from Trocos Lucos (Madrid), an acrobatic proposal full of humor that transforms a van into a stage; CLAM by Cia. Fèmut , which celebrates play and freedom through acrobatics and pole vaulting; Triplette by Labú & Cris Clown , with an absurd and poetic universe starring three clowns; Home by Federico Menini , a piece that combines architecture and juggling with wooden structures; Corsa by Cia. Marc Bosch , a reflection on identity and power through the bond between puppet and puppeteer; Zloty by Cia. Pau Palaus , an intimate story about the life of a traveling circus; Toca Toc by Cia. PakiPaya , which fuses aerial circus, theater and humor into a story about human relationships; and Carena from La Corcoles , a journey of balance and tightrope walking loaded with visual force.

Music also plays a prominent role with three shows : Nallar from Inspira Teatre , a sung piece that recreates the universe of a rural home through sounds and textures of the countryside; Bon Voyage! by Orthemis Orchestra , which transforms the waiting room of an airport into a scene full of rhythm and unexpected situations; and Xiulalaland of Xiula , an interactive musical adventure where the audience will help recover lost values.

As for other disciplines, the program includes two shows by the Toti Toronell Company : Fe de rutes , a poetic and surrealistic tribute to vital routes, and the traveling proposal: No tieru ànecs al riu . And also in the traveling genre Kamchàtka by Cia. Kamchàtka , a street show that reflects on borders and migration.

Finally, the exhibition also focuses on immersive installations and participatory experiences , with proposals such as If We Were Flowers by Marga Socias and Thomas Roper , a participatory garden installation; and AHNI (Acciones Humanes No Identidades) by Hermanas Picohueso , an interactive adventure that invites children and adults to recover their bodies and imagination.

PRO Catalan Arts Exhibition

The 37th edition will once again feature La Llotja , located on the first floor of the Leather Museum, as the nerve center of PRO activity and the main relational space for professionals accredited to the Show.

This space will host various activities of interest to the sector, such as reflection panels, debates, presentations of projects and initiatives linked to the performing arts for all audiences. The PRO Catalan Arts Exhibition is a space designed to encourage meetings, informal encounters and debate between the different agents in the sector.

One of the highlights will be the Vermut PRO , which will be held daily to facilitate interaction between participants and will feature wine courtesy of Denominació d'Origin Catalunya . In addition, professionals attending the Fair for the first time will be able to participate in the First Coffee at the Show , an informal meeting with cultural manager Margarida Troguet , who will welcome them and guide them to get the most out of their time at the Show.

The PRO program will begin on Thursday, April 16th with a panel discussion on the criteria and risks of show programming, moderated by Elena Carmona , from the Teatre Municipal de Girona , where programming models and the factors that influence the selection of stage proposals will be discussed. The day will continue with presentations by international and national programmers , which will allow professionals to meet the agents invited to the Fair, and with the institutional inauguration of the Llotja. In the afternoon, a debate will take place on the use of screens in the performing arts for children and young people, moderated by Núria Ramis, from the Festival Grec .

On Friday, April 17, the Mostra will host, throughout the day, the meeting of groups of young people linked to the performing arts , an initiative that allows future professionals in the sector to establish links and learn about the operation of a professional fair. The second day will also include “ ConnectArt” , a meeting organized by the TTP that allows companies to present their projects to international, national and Catalan programming managers. At the same time, the activity “ Theatre for young people?” will be held , moderated by Eva Ferré, from Festival Z , which will reflect on how facilities and the sector can generate real spaces to promote stage creation aimed at young audiences. The PRO program will continue with a conversation about the challenges of dramaturgy in family theater , based on the Manual of Good Practices promoted by the Catalan Association of Dramaturgy .

The activities of the Mostra PRO Catalan Arts will culminate on Saturday, April 18, with several presentations of initiatives and projects in the sector. These will include the presentation of ASSITEJ España , a leading entity in the promotion of performing arts for children and youth; the Circuit Xarxa , dedicated to the dissemination of family theater throughout the territory; and the new EscenaFamiliar portal and the Porta'm al teatre initiative , promoted within the framework of the Theater Boost Plan of the Department of Culture. The day will also include a special toast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the TTP , the Professional Association of Theater for All Audiences.

The 37th Mostra Igualada thus reaffirms its role as a meeting point for the performing arts sector for all audiences, promoting the connection between creators, programmers and institutions and favoring the development and projection of the sector. Professionals can register virtually until April 8 and consult all the advantages of accreditation in the professionals section of the Mostra website.

See, listen, talk: the image of the 37th Igualada Festival

The poster for the 37th edition of Mostra Igualada puts the senses at the center of the stage experience, with an image that claims the ability of theater to see, listen and make people feel . Created by the Igualada design studio Quartada , it is based on the idea that theater is a space where the audience observes, listens and expresses itself collectively.

To represent this, the visual proposal recovers the figure of the three wise monkeys , an image traditionally associated with silence and restraint that is here reinterpreted from a completely different perspective. Far from hiding the senses, the characters on the poster amplify them: eyes that multiply, ears that widen and a large mouth that projects the voice . Three figures that symbolize the same collective spirit that observes, listens and speaks, just as the theater does and as the Mostra does.

Beyond the visual concept, the image also stands out for its artisanal creation process , in line with the values of the Fair. The masks that appear on the poster have been constructed manually and subsequently photographed , in a process that directly dialogues with the world of theater and scenography and that claims the value of working with physical and real elements in a context marked by the proliferation of images generated with artificial intelligence.