The Roquetes neighborhood, in Nou Barris, will host tomorrow, Thursday, June 18, at 7 p.m., the premiere of the play A Pura Verbena, a community artistic creation that is part of the program of the neighborhood's main festival in Barcelona.
The proposal, promoted by the residents of the district with the accompaniment of playwrights Denise Duncan and Sabrina Catalán, vindicates the value of encounter, shared memory, and community life.
From community to individualism
The show starts from a familiar situation: the beginning of the neighborhood festivities with the proclamation, music, dance, and the desire to celebrate. But, as the performance progresses, a collective reflection emerges on an increasingly present issue: how to maintain community ties in a society that often favors isolation and fragmented relationships.
Through a staging that combines personal experiences, memories, and elements of popular culture, A Pura Verbena becomes a scenic street party that centers the human need to meet physically, look at each other, make noise together, protest, celebrate, and continue to feel that we belong to a place. The festival is also presented as a space of collective memory, where stories, symbols, and practices that contribute to building the neighborhood's identity are shared.
With a cast that values community
Participating on stage are Susana Castillejo, Toni Artal, Ángela Barriuso, Marta Garcia, Miracle Gil, Mª Carmen Moya, Triana Gavilán, Anabel Reguera, Núria Giralt, Regly Sánchez, Jennifer Bardales, Carolina Pineda, and Seva Ivanov, protagonists of a creation process that values the voices and experiences of the community.
The show, with free admission, has several accessibility measures, such as Catalan Sign Language (LSC) interpretation, subtitling, and audio description. In addition, an hour before the performance, a tactile visit will be offered for people with visual disabilities. Those interested can reserve a place by writing to dinamitzacio@ateneu9b.net.
Fruit of community creation
This show is the result of a community creation project initiated in 2020 at the Ateneu Popular 9 Barris, with the aim of opening the center's artistic resources and knowledge to the neighborhood and exploring new forms of relationship between culture, territory, and community. The initiative is part of the project Territori(s), comunitat(s) i pràctiques artístiques (Territory(ies), community(ies) and artistic practices), which promotes reflection on the role of culture in Barcelona's neighborhoods.
The activity is organized by the Ateneu Popular 9 Barris, the Kasal de Joves de Roquetes and the Casal de barri de Verdum. After the premiere, the show can be seen again next July 17, also at 7 p.m., as part of the Verdum Sense Fronteres (Verdum Without Borders) program.
You can find all the information here.
