L’autora (The Writer)at Teatre Lliure de Gràcia, Barcelona Review
Written by Laura for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
Is theatre for the artists, or for the audience? Is it an artistic endeavour, or a business? Who dictates that? These are some of the questions that L’Autora (The Writer) presents us with. Written in 2018 by Ella Hickson and directed here by Anna Serrano Gatell, this story talks about a writer who is trying to bring her story to life while constantly being held back by limitations and changes that question not only her story, but the way in which society is constructed.
Hickson wrote the play as a sort of experiment, as a piece of art only for herself, and this absolutely translates onstage, as it almost feels more like an amalgam of experimental scenes rather than a cohesive play with a clear beginning and end. It poses many questions, although it doesn’t seem very keen on answering them, leaving that job to the audience. It is meta theatre in its essence, trying to deconstruct what a play is. However, when deconstruction becomes the norm in contemporary theatre, it becomes a construct in itself: a style, a genre, and it stops feeling disruptive.
I was very fortunate to attend an accessible performance, although I believe the show always has subtitles. During the first few minutes the screen was unreadable due to the glare of the lights, but the rest of the show was well subtitled, and different characters even had different colours, which made them a lot easier to differentiate. In this performance, the subtitles were adapted to describe the different sound effects. The show also has audio assistance in every performance, which I heard some of the users praise after the show. I also really appreciated the “flashing effects” trigger warning, something that is quite common in the UK but that Catalan theatres still need to incorporate.
I found the staging by Judit Colomer to be absolutely masterful. We start on an empty stage just after a show, and slowly the crew begins clearing it and building the author’s house; very visibly a living room, but, at the same time, clearly unreal. The author seems to be the only one who sees the unrealness of everything, the only one seemingly able to feel and see the crew puttering about, handing out props or changing the scenery. I absolutely loved this aspect of the show; I could have watched a whole play just about that actually!
At some points, I didn’t know whether I was understanding where the show was going, and it’s something that I heard people comment on my way out of the theatre. It makes me sad when a show makes people question whether they are smart enough for it. However, I do not think it left anyone indifferent; it makes you constantly stand on your toes and reflect on what just happened.
The lighting by Marc Salicrú was very well thought out and effective; there is a point where the author is typing on a corner, with the light shining from the side of the stage and fog surrounding her, that I thought looked as beautiful as a painting. Lights went up and down, simulating a stage or a simple after-show Q&A, highlighting the focus of each scene. The sound effects by Carles Bernal were also wonderful and felt very immersive.
Last but certainly not least, every one of the four actors absolutely blew me away. Ravina Raventós and Javier Beltrán had perhaps smaller roles, but had the difficulty of having to play two different characters, which they both managed to do effectively in very distinct ways. I absolutely loved their first scene together. David Selvas plays the director, almost impenetrable and infuriatingly calm for most of the show; I also loved his appearances during the author’s private life scenes, as if he were even directing her life and her choices behind the scenes. And finally, Nausicaa Bonnín as the writer herself: she is an incomparable force, moving through the different registers without wavering, bringing cohesion to the play with her performance. She was mesmerising to watch.
In short, L’Autora is a visual delight and an interesting experiment, even though perhaps not the most original. I loved that it was willing to challenge the audience, I think at times it risks losing them altogether.
L’Autora will be playing at Teatre Lliure (Gràcia) until the 7th of June.
★★★★
