Dagoll Dagom begins its farewell with homage to Rusiñol
Marc Rosich, Andreu Gallén and Ariadna Peya combine for one last time to produce a musical adaptation of the 19th century play, L’alegria que passa
Last month, the Dagoll Dagom theatre company premiered an adaptation of Santiago Rusiñol’s L’alegria que passa at the Poliorama Theatre. The show runs until April 30 and has been announced as the last in the group’s 50-year career. With Antaviana and the music of Sisa, it has been the flagship musical theatre company in the Catalan language since 1978. The producer Anna Rosa Cisquella (the last active member of the historical triumvirate that included Joan Lluís Bozzo and Miquel Periel) has rescued a reinterpreted work from long ago. Now it returns, however, thanks to the adaptation by Marc Rosich, the musical composition of Andreu Gallén and a very physical choreography devised by Ariadna Peya.
The piece recounts the hesitancy of the mayor’s son between accepting the monotony and security of the village or being carried away by his infatuation with a variety company singer, who, for her part, dreams of the tranquility of a fireplace. The worlds of factory workers and artists are contrasted and there is an unexpected reaction by the factory owner.
A huge challenge
L’alegria que passa poses a huge challenge because all the performers exchange roles: they are at once the musicians of the scene and also actors. Now, in addition, each actor plays characters from the grey city and from the company of artists. It is a very physical play, the choreography reinforcing the two contrasting worlds that face up to one another. The plot allows the public to find reasons for the behaviour of both citizens and itinerant artists: the characters are humanised by their contradictions.
In reality, the actors have a more powerful character in one group than in the other, in which they play a more accompanying role. The only actor whose two mindsets remain fairly balanced is Àngels Gonyalons, playing both the mayor (who tries to wake the town up with the hiring of the company) and the director of the troupe, who celebrates having a place to perform. Of the nine performers, Gonyalons is the longest serving with Dagoll, along with Mariona Castillo, who starred in Cop de rock in 2011. Gonyalons celebrates the eclecticism of a work that seeks the total art pursued by Rusiñol.
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