A very pleasant Airecillo blows this afternoon in the shadow in the upper stands of the Greek theater of Montjuïc, while the technicians prepare the stage where on the 26th the premiere of The little circusthe opening show will give the city summer festival gun. The new director of the GREC, Leticia Martín (Granada, 47 years old), is caught by the singing of the turtles in a pause of the vertiginous exit ramp from its first edition at the head of the festival. “I have the body at the inauguration and the head already in the day after thinking about all the following,” says Martín who faces his debut festival with emotion and enthusiasm, his appointment with the faun.
Ask. The Grec is a festival that due to its characteristics (summer, outdoor functions, singular programming, memory) creates strong emotional ties with the public. What memories do you have as a spectator?
Answer. The Quartet Kronos with María Arnal at the inauguration of 2019, is what comes to mind. In Theater the first was Salem witchesby Andrés Lima, in 2016. I also remember the Caligula of Mario Gas the following year. It rained and had to stop the function until the stage dries.
P. I guess I didn’t imagine that one day I would direct the festival.
R. No, but I felt very involved. I have done a lot of scenic production and I tend to empathize. In open spaces you always have the concern for rain. It is mostly dancers who make suffer more, because they are very reluctant to cancel and can have injuries. Musicians suspend immediately, to prevent instruments from getting wet. As a special moment I remember a spectacular sunset in 2021 when it was represented The House of Spiritsdirected by Carme Portaceli and that for his long duration and to stick to the restrictions of the pandemic he had advanced at 9 pm. I have seen many things from the Grec, and even some in LLIURE and Mercat without being aware that they were part of the festival.
P. That came from the musical world and not the specifically theatrical caused surprise.
R. Music has always conditioned me, for my formation, I am a musicologist, and the sound is very important to me. My mother says that I have an ears of Tisica, a special sensitivity. But I have had a link with the theater as a producer and I have worked in the theaters of the channel. And I am culturally omnivorous. My arrival, from the Grand Theater of the Liceo de Barcelona, where I was attached to the artistic direction, surprised at first, yes. I am aware of my weaknesses and ignorance but I do not represent the idea of the totemic director so I have been willing to learn what is needed. We are in a very changing world and I have no problem to follow those changes.
P. Did it cost you to land in Catalonia?
R. I can only say good things from Catalonia. They called me for the Lyceum. I’ve been here for ten years, this is my house. It is true that 2017 was hard, that it seemed that or “you are with me or you are against me”, but more humanly than labor. I have never received a bad look for not being here. In relation to the direction of the GREC, I think I have generated more doubts to come from the high school than from Granada. For not belonging to any of the Catalan theatrical families.
What is missing to Gree is to believe it, get chest “
P. What should be the GREC?
R. The Grec is already. Maybe what he lacks is to believe it. Remove chest. Be aware of what you have, your category. That is something that does not happen to other festivals such as Edinburgh, Aviñón or Paris. But the reality is that Grec is already an attractive festival for the citizens of Barcelona and for people from outside.
P. In what proportion one and the other?
R. It does not seem bad that I am especially dedicated to the people here. Living in Barcelona presents many difficulties, for works, and so on. If there is something that is a gift for citizens, it is fine. And we have to thank the support and trust that always give us.
P. Have more international theater or more than is done here?
R. They are the two legs, we have already said it: the GREC is a window to what is done in the world and supports the local network, providing in many cases the final push for something to be seen. You have to always have a balance. And be very responsible with what is given, spaces and financing. That forces to be deciding continuously and carefully.
P. What importance do we give to the part of the GREC experiential?
R. I know that the experience of the GREC, the nights in the amphitheater, the memory of the shows, the meetings, are important things, since I arrived in Barcelona I have been able to experience that myself, even if I do not have so many experiences. Romanticism? Montjuïc is a very magical site that I think we do recently use.
P. What do you think of the new Flaix Festival of Tardor-Bcn?, Competition?
R. I see it as something positive, something that adds, forces us to have more conversations, but we already did it with high season, which are its organizers.
P. Do you think that in recent years there is a great international theater deficit in Barcelona?
R. No, I do not agree. It is a sensation. My opinion, and linking it to the romanticism we said before, is that many people have very good memories of things that I saw twenty years ago, very good things of artists that may no longer be. It seems to me that now it is time to discover new things, without devaluing those memories. But being aware that the world has become much bigger since then, and that there are new generations.
P. You will have your memories too.
R. Yes of course. Zero degrees, De Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Y Akram Khan O The trilogy of dragons, of Lepage, or the Forests of Calixto Bieito in the barbican. Or, going further back, the first time I saw the nederlands or that I heard the Piano concert number 1 of tchaikovski. But I am little mitom, although I do not say that I would not love to have Jacqueline du pré playing in the Grec if I was not dead!
P. Do you have to mark being a director? You are just the second woman at the head of the festival after Elena Posa, which was from 1988 to 1995.
R. I would like to think what a way of working and teaming means. But in our world now with the rise of queer And the fluid is not so clear that men and women should each be 50 %.
P. Propose an itinerary for programming, your favorites.
R. Ok, but from the consideration that I like everything and I recommend everything: Ihsane, The new Sidi Larbi Cherkaui, for which I feel great weakness as I have said (Amphitheater, July 11 and 12); the Mother courage from Lisaboa Hourts (LLIURE, July 16 and 17); The new choreography of Christos Papadopoulus (My fierce ignorant StepMercat, July 12 and 13), Ligia Lewis with A plot/ A scandal in the boiler (July 10 and 11), The monster, by Josep Maria Miró, at the Beckett (July 3 to 27); Giant, the work in which Josep Maria Pou embodies Roald Dahl (Romea, July 9 to August 3); Guillem Jiménez and Luqiui Lagomarsino in the Antic Teatre (July 17 to 20); The hours, On Virginia Woolf, at the TNC (July 4 to 6), the Cunillé/ Albertí/ Oriol Genís conjunction in the Atrium room …
P. Inaugurates with circus, the inauguration has become a time when the magnifying glass is put a lot.
R. He has some social encounter, but the important thing is what is seen on stage. The small circus, Marie and Yoann Bourgeois, is a beautiful show of music, contemporary circus and very poetic dance, I like the central idea that is the passage of stations and the Renaissance. The protagonist is the singer and songwriter Pomme, well known in France, with a string quartet and acrobats.