Shakespeare is resurrected every summer in Barcelona's Fort Pienc neighborhood thanks to the Parking Shakespeare company, which every July offers a free, open-air version of a comedy by the illustrious English playwright.
If last year they performed Cymbeline with a version and direction by Jenny Beacraft based on Salvador Oliva's translation, this year it's the turn of Hamlet and the Rotten Things, as they have made, as they say, a "very free" version based on one of William Shakespeare's most famous works: Hamlet. The plays run from July 9 to August 3 every day at 7 p.m. There are no performances on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The show is directed and dramatized by Roger Torns and features Lluís Català, Mireia Cirera, Àngela Coma Larrosa, Adrià Díaz, José Pedro Garcia Balada, Ariadna Matas, Santi Monreal and Roger Vilà Carreras. Costume and characterization are by Núria Milà, and stage fencing and combat are by Marçal Bayona and Àlex Yeste.
About the company
In 2019, Parking Shakespeare celebrated ten years since its creation with a challenge: to bring Shakespearean tragedies to the Parc de l'Estació del Nord, under the shade of the linden trees, thus recovering comedies already premiered in theaters and festivals and offering new ones. Performing the shows outdoors led them to adopt a new funding system: at the will of the spectator. Thus, when the play ends, they pass the hat.
"Outdoor text theater is not mainstream. Some ask us why we do this madness," said Pep Garcia Pascual, actor and founding member of the company last year in Cultura B. During the conversation, he admitted that the company has gone through difficult times, especially during lockdown and with subsequent capacity restrictions.
The company is also in a very sweet moment as it recently performed at the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in Krakow, where they performed Cymbeline.
