 Welcome everybody back to the Segal Talks here at the Martin E. Segal Theater Center, the Graduate Center CUNY in New York City at the City University in Manhattan. And it's another week starting in confinement in lockdown and we had Memorial Day weekend behind us. And it will be one to remember, not for the reasons, the good reasons why we should remember the engagements of life and death and wars. But this is one that also I think in the history of the American, of the Americas will be a significant one. And in New York, we are still, you know, lockdown, even so people we do go out and shopping or through the parks, but it is still a dangerous situation with unknown features. We over 100,000 deaths and the reports from the hospitals are that less people are do coming in, but also our healthcare workers and everybody says it's a sign of exhaustion. It's an exhaustion in families and partners and also the people who don't live as everybody might think, you know, with their friends, families, spouses, so it's a difficult time. It's a trying time. Yesterday, Christopher Donk from Belgium talked about it and he reminded us that all of it is about waiting and perhaps doing less, but perhaps engaging more and reading and thinking that so much of theatre's work from Beckett or literature and Kafka is about waiting and how to deal with it, how much he misses theatre, how sad it will be when people will be in masks sitting far away from each other. Because he said the experience of solitude or loneliness, which we might be centered on stage, but you do it in a group, you sit together. And this is not there. And he misses the play to go outside and all what theatre is about. As James Simpson wrote in his book of a permanent revolution, you know, he said art and literature has always been on the side of progress. It has been a side of progressive histories and the histories of freedom. And freedoms are threatened around the world. Also our personal freedoms have been curtailed by that social choreography we are now in. So it is a time we think of this Eagle tour as we always do in our programs to listen to the voices of the artists who are on the right side of history, the right side of social progress. And how do they experience this moment. They are closer to our present. They anticipate the future. And we have heard voices from around the world from Egypt and Lebanon and Shanghai and South Africa from Germany, Belgium, Italy, Ukraine all around the world for now nine weeks. And we are coming now also to a great country that has a great great theater tradition. One of the major ones from Spain, going back for four centuries and a long one, and it has major, major contributions to what we understand as theater and performance is all about. And we are having with us aina tour from Salah Beckett in Barcelona a very significant important influential theater in the Catalan region in Barcelona, but also for Spain itself she also part of this center in Matico and, of course, from Madrid and in Spain. She has studied pharmacology and agriculture and she became an actor and then she became a playwright and then a director and now she's also deeply engaged in Catalan literature. It's a true honor to to have you with us and and our friends also from the Institute of Roman Lulia. When we asked them, you know, we need someone from Spain and we have many contacts to our publishing. We have published many books with plays from Spain and social Barcelona plays and Benet Jeanette playwright who actually died with the corona virus we published his book. And the whole was the translator he wrote a beautiful mail about him and so now we are going to hear a bit from from that region so you know where are you, what time is it and what's behind you what's that on the wall. Good afternoon, Frank. First of all, I want to thank you for the invitation and good afternoon everyone. Thanks for joining us. I am so glad for being here this afternoon, sharing some thoughts and experience about this strange and terrible situation we are living. I'm at home in Barcelona. It's PM and this I decided to just to paint my walls with the days that I've been confident and I started the 14 of March, March 14. I finished a few weeks ago because we start in to another new phase of the confinement when we start to be allowed to go outside and it's phase one and and yesterday you start the phase one for being a citizen you have to do a master of what you can do or not or what you are allowed to do or not. I want to tell you that it's a pleasure also and an honor being here as an artist and a cultural agent. And I will try to do my best with my English. It's just perfect. You can hear is is not my native language that sometimes I get a bit lost and please let me know it if you don't understand something and we'll try to I will clarify for you the best I can. And if I get very, very lost. We can change the subject and talk about love. I had an American boyfriend and I have, I have a master talking about love. So just kidding. It's not important. We all lost and we also need to talk about love. Yeah, I think and just in case. Yeah. Yeah, no, we are there but listen. So how is the situation now tell us, you can go out on the street or the mask do you have to write permissions like in France you have to print something out. Is it a curfew in the night or weekends. What's going on in Barcelona. Yeah, I'm going to explain you a bit the situation from the beginning, you know, because that it's not that crazy that from the beginning. I think the situation is crazy in every part of the world. We have been under a confinement in since the 14th of May, and I couldn't believe it. That was crazy from one day to the other the government announced that we were not able to be in the street. We had to be at home. And we just were allowed to go to the supermarket pharmacy tobacco shop and the bank. And we spend 49 days without being allowed to go for a walk. Now this all seems like a memory from the past, but was difficult to face. I walk in circles on my rooftop, seven kilometers per day. You really do every day. Seven kilometers. How many circles. A lot, because every kilometer was 50 circles, imagine 50 or 200 circles. It was crazy, but I felt as a hamster and as a prisoner sometimes, but the situation outside was so hard and I held my responsibilities as a citizen. There were a lot of people dying. Hospitals were overcrowded without respirators for everyone. Sanita is tough without safety protections. A lot of people dying alone without their relatives at their site and families were not allowed to go to their lover once the funerals. Imagine how that can affect their emotions and feelings forever. In Madrid they didn't have enough more of the space for all the corpses, so they had to store them in a nice ring. But now it seems the situation is more under control. The coffins was where they were on the eyes of the Barcelona ice hockey team. Yeah, that was crazy and so sad and we look at that like what's going on, what's happening. We weren't ready for that. But now it seems that the situation is more under control and for the last weeks we are allowed to go for a walk and practice some individual sports. And since yesterday bars and shops are open and they say we can meet friends just up to 10 people can gather. But it is a step after two months and a half without being able to see anyone apart from your flatmates. I'm living alone. Anyways, society is under shock and nobody expects this and no one was ready or trained for this. It just happened. So bars are open but only 10 people can be in a bar? No, you are just able to meet 10 people at home or in a bar or wherever and bars have to, I don't know how many people can be in the bar. It depends on the dimensions of the bar but you have to have the social distance in between the other group or the other people. Oh, so there can be different groups of 10 people. Do you wear masks? Do you have to wear masks? Yes, I don't know if they told us that it's better we wear masks but I don't know if we have to do it by law yet. They say that from one of these days it's going to be obligatory. I don't know how to say it. It's obligatory. I have a beautiful one. I have a handmade one that I bought. We have to show them to us maybe. So what is the situation then for theaters? Of course I guess everything was closed but now in that different phase, what's going on in theater? Depends on the theater. From this Monday we are allowed to open the theaters. Really? Yeah, but with a lot of restrictions and it's not that easy. I hadn't studied all the law because the part of the production team of Salavecete is doing that but we have to wear masks, sometimes glasses for rehearsals, gloves. You have to be sure that everyone is having the social distance or the safety distance. It's not a social distance. It's a sanitary distance. And the occupation has to be under 30% in every venue for the time being. But everything is changing every day. You have to be all the time reading a lot of documents from the government and just trying to manage that. But from today we are able to open theaters but it's not that easy because you have to clean all the building every day. A lot of times do a sanitary preparation for everything. Just put signs everywhere, explaining to people what they have to do. So let's say you have a 300-seat house, 100 people can come in, 30% more. No, it's not 30% because they say 30% but nowadays today has to be not more than 30% and in phase 2 it's going to be 50% Wow, I mean it's the first time we hear on the Segal Talk the theaters are reopening and even 30% seems high with the distance between the rows and the mask. So let's say today in Barcelona there are actors with plastic gloves, masks and goggles and plastic rehearsing? No, not today because no one is doing that. No, no one. They say that we can do it and before from yesterday you are allowed to do it but you need to have a plan with the laws and everything and they need to validate your plan and then you can open. And it's not that easy because there are a lot of administrative documents to do and a lot of people didn't want to rehearse in these conditions. Yeah, so go ahead. No, that most of the theaters designed not to open because if you are allowed to have 30% in your theater, this is from where you get the money. It's not working at all and we are going to try to do the first show in July. Okay, yeah. What's going to be the first show? The one that was on when the confinement starts. It's called La Morta by Marc Reuet and it's an adaptation of contemporary playwright Marc Reuet of a play by his grand-grandpa. So you're continuing. What have theater artists been doing in Barcelona in that time of confinement or at the moment? How did they react? So my work in Salavequet as a part of the artistic team, I'm overseeing programming in there. I talk with a lot of artists because my job, it's part of my job is design the calendar, the programming calendar. And I need to talk with a lot, a lot, a lot of artists and that was a bit sad, a bit crazy because everyone was, what's going on? I know what is going to happen and I was telling them all the time. I don't know. We need to learn to manage uncertainty. We don't know. It's not depends on us. And people were writing a lot. I just see some rehearsals, Zoom rehearsals. People were, some others were very depressed saying, I can write, I cannot create, I'm not able to do anything. I don't know what is going to go on. It depends on the artist or on the way they afford that. The thing is that I feel that I'm a privilege because my economic situation, it's good. But most of the artists, because I'm working at Salavequet and also I'm working in Centro Dramático Nacional and my economy didn't depend just on my artwork. Yeah, but there are a lot of artists that just, they have just intermittent works and if they are not working, if they are not working in a show, they are not getting paid. And this is very difficult to face for them. And now the government, because of the pressure of the theater world, they decide to do some things, some measures to, and give some grants for, for artists. But at the moment, it's just a short term measure. We need to see what's going on. But it's not easy. And people doesn't know, people is disoriented. Barcelona is such a town of theater. We publish many plays and the Barcelona plays and many others. Is this changing theater what people think about what theater performance is? Do you feel there will be a before and after in the Barcelona theater scene? I think for sure it's going to be, but I don't know how, because we are just landing in this situation. I feel that a lot of queries are going to fit our, new queries are going to fit our artwork. Because the situation, the social situation is very difficult. We don't know if, how this is going to affect the economy of the country and how all what happened, a part of money, a part of our work. What happened with the society? People dying, no? And people dying and hospitals overcrowded and all that things are going to change the way that we create art. But I don't know how yet. It's too soon. Do you feel your government responded well to the crisis? Yes, somehow yes. Of course there are things that they could do better, but it's very difficult. How do you can imagine that the virus is going to come and you have to just decree the state of alarm, sanitary alarm. They try to do, they are doing good things, but they will need to do more. Because for me the crisis amplifies the lack of the system. And everything now we are seeing the lack like this. There is a lot of people in a vulnerable economic situation and that is going to have consequences. And now is the time to decide the government or the public administrations need to decide what they, which they both, they have two scenarios, no? More, but just to simplify. They can just choose one and say, okay, I'm just going to do what I was planning to do before the crisis or I'm going to try to help or I'm going to try to change a bit the society and the way that the state is taking care of people that it's under cover. So do you, if theater is of interest, it's always also because it's a model. It's a model for the real for the symbolic and for the imaginary. So if things are changing, also they are represented often earlier in theater and performance. What, will you change things how you present work at Salah Beckett? Will it have an impact this crisis? Yeah, as I told you, for sure, something is going to happen. No, for sure, something is going to change because theater or art is a dialogue with society and with humanity. And if you are an artist, you are in constant dialogue with that. And now we need as an artist to create the imaginary world different. And I don't know what is going to happen in Salah Beckett yet. We are, I think we are going to start to work in there in 15 days or in around 15 days. And we have a lot of shows that we need to program next season because we have the commitment with the artist and the ones that we couldn't show the last month. But I think we need time to see what's the reaction of the playwrights and what they write down. We had an open call for one of our main programs. It's the artist in residence and we have a playwright in residence. We have every year one playwright that we pay him to write down a play and we produce that play and also that person is involved in our artistic committees, you know, and we are doing activities with that playwright and everything. And we receive 95 projects. And most of them write it from, write it from, write it down from the confinement. And I was, I don't have a theory yet, but I see, you know, what people were, people is worried about why we work, how we work, how we get related with the family, how we get related with our relatives, how the society is going to be after that. And I read 90 projects, 95. And I see that, yes, something that the topics are changing a bit, you know, people are just asking what the hell is going to go on. And we need time, we need to give time to the writers to land in this situation, just to analyze it and then create. Also, in July, we are going to do our international summer school. We did it every, for the last 14 or 15 years. And we need to change some things because it's an international school and obviously the international teachers and outdoor playwrights are not going to be able to come. And, but we are going to do some online courses or workshops, and other ones on site. And most of them are going to be related with the situation. And we are going to do some talks with cultural agents, sanitary staff also. And we are going to try to revise a bit the literature from other pandemics, you know, just to evaluate a bit the situation. And we are going to try to do some activities in the public space because it's where, because I think it's time to try to get into or to step into the public space. Not for everything, it has to be a mix, the programming, but you feel more safe in there. What's the public space in Barcelona? What do you mean by public space? The streets or squares, but we are working with the mayor house to go to a park beside Salabeket, a beautiful one, and to do a course in the workshop and the talk. Some stay reading also, but we are working on all the administrative stuff to get the permissions. And Salabeket is really dedicated to playwriting and to authors. Are there digital initiatives that things might not happen in Salabeket, not in the parks? I don't know if you plan things for the parks, also performances or the public spaces, but will there also be things online? Are you preparing to do things online? The park activity is just going to be a part because we are going to do just a part of the activities because we are going to do activities in Salabeket. Just the workshops. You will do just workshops in the parks, but no, you're not going to go out? Yes, some stage readings, but not shows at the moment. Just workshops, some talks and some stage readings or park readings then. And we do some activities in our venues and in our classes and everything. And we are going to do some online activities. We are doing activities online right now, some courses, workshops, and some of them were on in the beginning of the confinement. And the others we create, we are working on designing the news, the International Summer School workshops. And we are going to have Javier Dote from Argentina, also Team Crouch from England, and we are working on that now. So do you show work from Salabeket? They say it's recordings of shows or do you have actors read monologues poetry? They say something online. And what do you think of online offerings by theaters at the moment? I haven't seen any screen theater because I didn't feel in the mood to because as a programmer I used to go to theater three or five times per week, 11 months a year. And I didn't see, I haven't seen it, but I think there are a lot of good offers and good shows and everything. And people are enjoying a lot seeing screen theater and everything, but I haven't done it. In Salabeket, we haven't shown the recordings of our shows, but we just published again some talks that we organized our programming with activities about debate and thought. And we just did that and we are organizing some talks too in between playwrights now. But we need to stop the activity in the beginning because we are, we prefer to stop and then we are starting now with the online proposals. So in a way, you wait till that is over that you can open again. I mean, the Public Theater New York Commission or it was the idea of a writer that did a Zoom show. I mean, Nelson created based on characters that often come in his work. So they created an online work that existed only on Zoom, but you feel you are trying to get back to being able to show the work of the writers. And I think it's very precious in a way that's respectful. Yeah, I think that it's good to find ways or use all the online tools to show theater. I think in theater to be drawn into this virtual world, but it's not the same that just recording theater that you were supposed to do with the audience in a venue and just put that I don't I'm not interested, interested in that. But I think that for a lot of months we are going to adapt ourselves to these new tools and we are going to do. We are going to do design some stuff like that. And it works. They told me I just look at these or look at that. No, it's good and it works because they are things that are are planted to be done with those tools. But not in Salabeket, but as a cultural agent and as an artist, I think that we need to go to the streets and the squares and the public space I have. I had a project with Andres Lima is a very well known director here in Spain. He's my friend and I call him and said, Andres, I got to have this in my mind. What do you think, and we start to create the project now it's, we are asking to the public administration local ones to pay artists to create in the street, because I think that theater is the most beautiful thing or the thing I miss more is the encounter, the real one. And yes, you can be watching a show in Zoom and knowing that there are more people with you looking at that, but it's not the same is this community feeling know that we need to recover it because people is going to be scared to come back to to theater or to, if they told you that you have to go to the supermarket with a mask and clean your hands and everything. Then we need to find ways to make people or the audience or society to feel confident with the theater or the scenic arts. You know, I think it's a great idea many artists also we talked to from around the world say perhaps it is a moment to also reflect on the structure on the system of theater and also to leave the space, perhaps use it for the moment in a different way it could be an exhibition or theater artists living in the theater and creating but perhaps in streets or public spheres. There will be an engagement. My question for you as a as the person as I know the person who studied pharmacology and also agriculture, were you prepared for this confinement. How did you experience it what what is going through your mind did you even a time to think or did you work so much. I'm not just playing it to you. I work a lot, but I'm. Yeah, I've been doing called a salad beckett's work and I've been. I've been doing also I read a lot because I read things from salad beckett the projects and the place that they are that arrive there. And also the ones that the right to Centro Dramatico Nacional, but I've been studying to and reading a lot for my studies, but I have time to to for myself and to create and I wasn't ready to afford this situation in the beginning what so hard, but now I feel good. I spend 70 days alone. 70 days alone. Yeah, at home. And it's not that bad sometimes I get nervous and I have some anxiety and but I just face at it and saying it's normal you are at home alone, working, creating, but alone without the, the contact of the skin of the people you love without kisses without hacks. And, and this is sad, but it's how it is. And I feel good. I feel inspired. I write down to little pieces. One it was for the prison, a prison here in Barcelona, the teacher asked me to to write down something for them for the prisoners that are doing theater in there. I wrote about a conversation that I heard, you know, while I was doing some roof watching from my sofa. And I wrote about that conversation that I heard that was my neighbor with talking with his grandma, and saying that he had the that whiskey was going to get them from Coronavirus, but he he has a lot of theories, and I was like, what the fuck is he saying, sorry. What he's saying whiskey and he was saying just grandma please drink whiskey all the time all day. And I wrote on a scene about that because we are a bit nervous. So, you know, and we are seeing things like that and I just wrote down a funny story. And from the Centro Dramatic National they asked me a short piece to for his, their, their web. And it's going to be in the next week, I guess. And it's about the homeless that lives here in a square beside home that I just passed by the other day at eight o'clock the time for the playoffs. And one woman start to applause and he was, what she's doing, why is it why why she's clapping their hands. And I was just imagine a monologue of a person that homeless that doesn't understand anything. People is with must everyone at eight o'clock is going to run or it's running and biking and streets are empty. And I wrote down another funny piece about that. And also, this week it's better than the others, but I had to make the decision because I was in the point to, I was supposed to show my new play in Greek festival I don't know if you know that Greek festival, international festival, summer festival here in Barcelona. And, and we were supposed to start rehearsals today. And I just decided to, to stop the, the, the rehearse. I just, I made the decision to not have to don't have to. Oh, sorry, I get lost now. No, no, that's fine. No, that's good. I made the decision to stop the, the premiere. We are going to have the show in, we are going to have the premiere in, in autumn, but not now because I didn't want to put my team in that situation. I didn't want them to rehearse to the producers to do the sanitary plan for the rehearsals and I think it's a bit insane, a rehearsal with gloves, masks, glasses, safety protocols and without hugging each other. And I just made this decision and says, as a result, the director of the festival understood that very good. And we are going to do a reading, but we are going to do a part of the creation of the process in July. And at the end of this creation week, we are going to do an stage reading, but with elements with music and design and, and with a stage design also. We are going to do that on site and also on a streaming and So today you had to make up your mind if your play would happen under those. However, Corona COVID-19 sanitary confinement circumstances or not other colleagues of yours will they will the play be done. Do you know the play will be for the creek festival other place. Do you think plays will be shown. So we will start next week. So, so once are gonna are gonna do it and I'm gonna have the premiere in the Greek festival. Some of them were already done or and some of them are going to rehearsal in other circumstances. Because there is people that is not in Barcelona rehearsing and in other communities. The situation with coronavirus wasn't like in Barcelona, and they are in the phase one for the last week they were able just to met people more than 10 persons and depends the festival they announced last week that is going to be on. Yeah, they are going to be different activities not all the shows that we're supposed to have the premiere in there are going to be able to do it. Yeah, so maybe it's all going to be a dream for commercial producers no more than 10 people involved including. In fact, it's going to be much cheaper and easier to do, but I hope in New York, often people live more than four people. No, I forget. Listen, if I may ask you, you know, you talked about love. But Chris for Don yesterday said to be our face with existential questions now if we don't think about it now, whenever and so what are your thoughts. Since you mentioned it what what are you thinking about. I'm feeling, I, I feel strong to face this crazy situation. I guess because all my needs are covered. And I have got all I need to be love people around me taking care despite of distance artwork to do. I'm passionate about my work and my studies are going well so I just need to be relaxed it and I'm thinking a lot of that just I may have to be relaxed as much as you can to afford that what is going to come to manage all the uncertainty. And sometimes I feel this oriented, but I accept it. And also, I'm thinking when I'm going to be able to go to the hairdresser. Just kidding a little bit, but it's, but it's something it's something a bit stupid but it's like, wow, what when life is going to be normal and how what normal is going to mean. I'm very, very, very worried about about how our governments are going to treat us as citizens and how they are going to do to support all this or the whole society but the artist, you know, especially for me right now because we are talking about art. And I think art is something that has to be protected and creators has to be protected, because we are not just an entertainment. We are something that helps the society to release the fears, the traumas and they are helps us to question ourselves about life, about situations and we with the representation we see human behavior and human conflicts in there and now we can step or move on from our mental or our worries, you know, and I'm worried about that how, because I don't want to imagine a world without art, or without artists or artists there's homeless artists, you know. I think that the public administrations the states the governments need to do something with all the people. And also with to protect art as a, as persons that are as people who helps to to give medicine for our souls. And our spirits, artists medicine, during confinement, everyone is listened to music, watching movies, reading, more than ever. So who is creating that why the art is a window to paradise or to hell, but a window to travel. And we need that windows. And you're afraid those windows could be closed so that it's not enough done by the politicians of my government by or by society. Yes, sure. I'm afraid of that. I don't want to be and I think it's not time just to complain. We need to take actions and do things and be strong and try to help that that or pressure the administrations just to ask them to, to don't let art just go. But it depends on the crisis, the economic crisis that is going to come and you can have it's easy. It's not going to be the first time that that happens, and artists are going to create for sure because it's something that we don't do for business we do for it. It's just something it's an impulse something that we need to do. But you, if you don't have support or your economic situation is not good and you have to work in other things, then you cannot create that much. You know, and I'm a skirt of that and I think things are some things are happening and he and Spain politicians are aware of that they are trying to work on that. They just start to open to to to public open calls for grants for artists and everything but this is a short term action. And I want to think in a long term. And I'm worried about that the long term. No, it's like when you are going to be able to open your theater with 50 persons. It's okay, you don't need any grants or you don't need any support. No, because we need the audience, not just for economic reasons also for artistic reasons. We need this in this encounter. No, and I'm worried because we everyone is saying no it's going to be like this or like that but nobody knows. Every day things are changing and we need to be there aware and try to just manage that uncertainty and protect the artist all the time. It's patrimony. It's a it's a word patrimony patrimony. Yeah, patrimony of art. Yeah. Yeah, it's shelter support. Yeah. Yeah. So how do you protect yourself? What do you do to in the day you say you sit down. Tell us a little bit how is your day look like in Barcelona. I woke up always very sleepy. I need one or two hours to be awake. Around what time. What time does it start depends on the day. Today I start at nine or not 10, but some days I start I woke up at eight and another is at 12 depends I decide to don't use the alarm o'clock. Just in case that I have a meeting or something but I don't use the alarm o'clock. And just I drink a lot of coffee here in the balcony with the sun on my sunlight on my face. And I start to plan the day and I work for Salabek at the beat for Centro Dramatic National also sometimes during the afternoon I'm doing my home or my university task. And I do some sport I did martial arts for eight weeks or something like that a friend of mine by zoom, but I need to stop it because I work a lot. The last weeks they were 14 hours per day more or less. And that's a lot. It's too much too much. Yeah. But you know it's it's not the concentration it's different sometimes and you need more time to get in and now I'm starting to to be my normal rhythm again with my normal rhythm again but yeah I had a lot of work to do. And I'm I'm planning we are planning called the the next season the 2021 from September to July and I'm making phone calls and talking with artists and and and the phone calls are more long you know in this situation. Yeah, because in another circumstances, you call someone just to give some dates or the period for the show and everything. And, and they just spend 15 minutes or 10 or sometimes more if there is something to to resolve for a conflict or whatever. But now it's one hour talk sometimes know everyone it's just what are you doing and we are and explain the situation and it's more everything kids more slow. And sometimes when as I finish work I do some zooms or a phone call with friends and as when I close the computer I had I took a beer fresh one from the fridge and I sit here in the balcony watching the moon. And listen to some music and so. When do you do your running. My running at eight, sometimes and now from the last weeks I a friend of mine give me a bike. And I put the, it's an old bike but for me is my new bike. And, and I'm going to the Barcelona, it's the beach here in Barcelona. And I, I bike there it's one hour, just go and come back or one hour and a half. And I feel so good than it and so, so, so free, you know, for just with the air of my in my skin and it's like wow, who could who could imagine that know that I was like over that. And those emotions just biking. It's like you, you have been in prison or something like that. No, it's not the same, but it's the freedom of movement. Since, since you engaged with agriculture or pharmacology with medicine healing and acting directly what what helped you what to give get answers to create meaning what was most useful for you. That that I don't know just understand a little bit more how we work as a human bodies, but I create my first publication the first play that they publish me. It was about evolution, genetic evolution, but I decided to just not to talk too much more about that. It's just something that I bought in my mind and it's useful if you, I don't know, you feel you have some headaches you know what you have to take. And if you had some plans, you can make them grow better but it's not that much in my artwork. And I was, if you want, I can explain you a little bit what is my play about the one that I was supposed to have the premiere in Greek festival. Sure. It's a monologue and it's called the galaxy of fireflies. And it's based on a personal experience that that happened to me when I was 21 years old in a Latin American country. I was kidnapped for many hours and they put me some guns on my head. But nothing happened to me. You were kidnapped. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for a lot of hours and everything ended well. Nothing happened to me just guns on my head and that's not that much. After all, me and while me and when you are in there, it's very hard but nothing happened. But the place about the consequence of this that assault about the government apparatus that this situation activates. And how they reacted because for people from a rich country were high, high jacket by five people from a poor country. And that was terrible. And basically with the play I'm talking about the privilege about the moral and about the ethical precepts, how the perspective of being European changed for me forever. And the death and dying and killing. It's not the same if you have born in a rich country or in a poor country. And that's the world as it is. And I wish I was older when I had the perception of this of that in my own skin, but we can choose everything. And I wrote it down 20 years later, I need 20 years to write about that. The play is going to be we are working in the in the edition or the edition of the play, and it's going to be a bilingual book in Spanish and in English. And I hope we are going to have this during the, the reading that we are going to do during the Greek festival. So it does deal with life and death, class, the country rich countries, poor countries, not what is also going to say it. No, no, no, I mean for Corona. No, no, no, it deals with with theme that come actually up, you know, in this, this Corona time and what we have here. So what do you read I know you study now literature at the university, but what do you read and what do you listen to in these days what helps you and. Yeah, I read a lot of plays new ones, the ones I already told you the ones that arrived me from that arrived to Salabeket and to Centro Dramático Nacional. But for your studies you say you are studying. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to tell you right now. And I read some philosophers because I'm, I'm doing convention in philosophy in my degree. I'm not an expert. I'm just a beginner, but I am thinking a lot that we need to revisit the, the age of enlightenment in terms of democratic value. And in terms of being subjects, but also sovereign as citizens know I read Rousseau, a lot. And I think there is something in there that we have to revisit a bit. And I also read Nietz, I love Nietz, his philosophy, not him, but I guess we need to learn from him that the will to kill the running power and become free spirits. It's what I always revisiting him because of that. And I read Bolaño, the Chilean, it's a poet, Bolaño is a poet and also Murakami, the Japanese writer. Bolaño the novelist. See, it's the novelist. Savage detectives, yeah, but his poetry. Yeah, for me it's a poet, it's not a novelist. Yeah, that's true, great books. And I'm listening to a lot of music, but there is a song that I listened to the first month of confinement a few times a day. And I used to dance with a lot here just jumping and dancing. And it's across the universe by the Beatles, because despite everything, nothing is going to change my world. It's giving an additional meaning. Yeah, yeah. I cry some days dancing this song. Yeah, because it was like everything keeps changing, but I need to just be focusing myself and try to protect myself from all what's happening and try to find my courage. Yeah, these are for sure moments you would not have thought about a couple of months ago that you would be at home running seven kilometers on your roof that you would be dancing to the Beatles crime. No, I was thinking, wow, I'm going to be at Salabeket, I'm going to travel to Madrid for the committee, I'm going to be rehearsing, studying, going to Menorca. My parents are from Menorca, little island in the Balearic. And I miss my island a lot and my parents a lot too, but I was thinking that my life was going to be that and just stay in your place and do everything from here. Change life change. What do you think will be, let's say it all goes well and phase one and two and three come but from that from those days of confinement what will you take what have you learned what have you experienced where you feel this is the most significant insight I had just to take like as it is. The things that you cannot change I learned it before but now it's more deep, it's a deeper learning. Because what you can do I was here and thinking I got everything I need I can go to the supermarket just have with food, nice wine, nice beers. My friends are there in my phone not not beside me but life now is like this. And if I use my energy to get angry depressed and complaining. I'm not going to transform anything or I'm not going to. I'm not going to help to find the ways. I find my ways to get related with the new reality. I need all my energy, and I learned that and I, I spend some lot of time just connect with yourself and see what you can do this is the situation, what are what you need in this situation, transform your needs in your objectives. I hear that you also say you know that it made your read was so in the enlightenment and that we perhaps all have to get back to think about this participatory democracy we are in do you. What are your thoughts what if you read his work what what comes to your mind for if you say things have to change in Spain, and you also worried that they won't change or get worse. So what do you think it needs to be done. If we revisit the age of enlightenment. They were asking to, to the state to give people the basic needs to solve the basic needs to let them was playing this in English. It's not easy right now. I'm gonna try. You're very good English is great. No, the state need to give the citizens education, a house and sanitary stuff and sanitary needs and also food and everything and help or work, not help work to have citizens that can think and make decisions by their selves. And I'm going to try to connect this with the coronavirus know. I imagine two situations know a poor person living in a poor neighborhood here in Barcelona, that has no decor when the coronavirus starts or the confinement starts that person has three children, no work, no support from the citizens has to help his kids to do the home words and everything, and also is residing from the, the friend of mine called now the Spanish, the older government announced propaganda from the government, saying you have to be at home if you go outside and everything imagine how do you recite that if you don't have the tools to to question that a bit. And another person that has everything solved and everything can can just spend time looking for information and create their own thoughts, perhaps it's going to question something know, and I think and and it's not going to say oh the government government and saying that I have to do it. No question that to I understand that we need to be close at home, because it was a sanitary emergency. They treat the, they treat us like a child, you know, it's like if you go to the street policemen are there you will need to, you are going to, they are going to put you, you will need to pay a ticket if you go outside. And I was thinking why I can walk in my rooftop, and I cannot walk into the street just for 30 minutes today I don't care, but with order, and everyone respecting and it seems like we are just and we are just subjects, not sovereigns. And this is not easy. But perhaps there is something to think about that not, we are not going to be or we are not going to apply you all what Rousseau was saying that I don't know what or what he was saying. But why in the 18th century they were questioned that, and now we are just saying yes. Sorry, we are just saying yes to everything, not questioning, not questioning our democracy. Which are the tools for the citizens to decide the laws or what is what they apply on us, you know, it's like, well, this is the law, you have to do this, you have to do that. Perhaps no, the responsibility of every citizen and the major as a citizen. And I feel that they treat me a bit as a child. That's true. I mean, you know, the government tells you you have to wash your hands, you know, and yeah, and that's it's quite serious. I'm a measure and, and we do question what our liberties, you know what are the ones that, you know, we have mankind has fought for centuries and what are the histories of freedoms that are endangered and maybe we took also some for granted and we shouldn't but you know that it is a participatory project as you say we have to ask this question and engage and also fight as you said before, you know, fight for, for, for what we, what we need and, and theorizing always has been, you know, on the site, you know, fighting for the, in that complex history of freedoms but to fight for freedoms and for the liberties in all ways, and for everyone and not just liberty of one or a certain class so it's certainly I think a moment where we re evaluate this and, and your work and Salah back it and then Barcelona but also your life, you know, of course this is all part of it and what we do does matter in our lives but also in, in our works, you know we're coming closer to the to the end or really thank you for this very open honest talk that also reflects the complex complexities of that moment and we are in them I'm sure you also speak with young artists and emerging artists or people in general what what do you use what what advice do you have I know you said something being an artist never was easy so don't hesitate and keep on with your art despite Corona despite the economic crisis despite everything. Find your inspiration in the context. Connect with your soul and try to connect other souls with your artwork always be honest with yourself. The work to seek approval from the others work to fulfill yourself knowing knowing that the harder you try to be like it, the less you will achieve, but keep on always artists not a business. It's a way to communicate. It's a dialogue with humanity and with society so choose what you want to communicate with your art and what you want to amplify with your work be a magnifying glass and uncomfortable one please. Thank you. It's very, very beautiful really think what you want to do with your art and be a magnifying glass but also an uncomfortable one so. But you all go on and engage with us so this is a very, very, very beautiful so thank you for that you know moment you shared with us in. In Barcelona and your in your neighborhood I mean it's different experience for everyone if you would call someone in Madrid during Malaga would be different week two weeks earlier later but these are these are real moments are really. And thank you and I think this is significant for us to hear what you go through and how it relates to our lives and what lessons we can learn from this are really sharing your experiences of significance and it as the kaleidoscope that incredible kaleidoscope we are experiencing. Here was our seagull talk but also I think the world is experiencing that you know everything does matter in power way places and very, very close ones and the microcosm we now observe in our homes and we will go on this week and we hear more voices significant ones the great director and from from New York is here with us this city company she has really made major contribution to theater over decades so teacher and director. And, and so we will hear from here Patricia Cornelius from Australia will talk about also a playwright woman who early on connected with the society the classes and voices of the people and took to detect them and you know to anticipate and to mirror our moments in shifting moments between people relations and objects I guess also on stage so and and high five who from Hong Kong will join us where it is perhaps at the moment also even more burning question what will happen after confinement, you know, the political fight also be for artists and what is the role of an artist in a time where it now seems that perhaps the history of Hong Kong the promise 50 years of freedom have been cut short or will be dead dramatically cut short. Perhaps you will talk about his art only we don't know it's an open space open conversations and really thank you. I know for for being with us and for sharing so openly and for our listeners to be with us after all these these weeks and as so much to do as in us as she works 1014 hours a day and we all experience how fast the time goes talks are longer that is true actually what you said we just do business as usual which perhaps already is part of the change. We are experienced and so we are forced to do to do less so thank you for listening and thanks to how around for being our host out of Emerson College, Travis and see and the great VJ and my team. Andy and some young so really thank you for listening and tuned back and stay safe and stay tuned and I know hopefully we see you in New York you said you want to come back with the play company the great. One of the few companies that early on really looked at international work we don't have enough it's a tunnel vision. It's a big island but after all often it is so island so we need to hear your voices so that will be quite a maybe one day you will see your work here and we have. Yeah, I hope. So again thank you all and thank you Frank. Thank you and bye bye. Thank you.