The House of Tales
One afternoon I’m walking down Calle Ramón y Cajal, in the Gràcia neighborhood, and a door opens and a woman invites me in. She is Teresa and her job is the oldest in the world: she does theater. Behind the little door opens an interior full of stories on shelves and posters on the walls, and on the floor rugs, cushions and chairs. And there is a stage, small and cute. And puppets, piano, music and words. We are made of words, because the verb is the source of the spirit, which has its place in La Casa dels Contes (www.casadelscontes.com), which is sustained by “the generosity of the artists and the public”, according to Teresa Puig. , an actress with a degree in dramatic art from the Institut del Teatre and training in art therapy, creative dance and Gestalt, which in turn has trained school teachers.
What is in this place?
An artistic laboratory. A theater.
A tiny theatre.
Little things have value. Overcrowding there is already a lot.
She’s an actress?
Teatrera, an actress who generates her work instead of waiting for it.
What work?
Oral narratives. Every Saturday, for example, Pinocchio .
For the children.
From two years old, with their parents. Children no longer settle for anything.
Are they demanding?
A child always knows when he is loved and when he is not. Here we look at them, I ask them his name…
I see books, stories…
It is La Casa dels Contes, there are stories from all over the world.
Does he tell stories?
And accompanied by puppets, music… The children collaborate with three words…
Three words?
They are enough to improvise a story: let’s stimulate the child’s imagination, their creativity…
Does it invite them to feel protagonists?
In the front row, I ask the parents to sit behind.
I remember a teacher of mine: she read us stories.
Sees it? Fiction saves us, we need it to live. It helps us identify our emotions. It’s called art.
Is art emotion?
If it is not to excite, what is it for? I train educators and teachers of children to use art.
To what end?
Encourage the child in his ability to be honest with his feelings, help him understand himself inside.
Is that educating?
How will an emotionally blocked child learn math? If a child learns to connect with himself and express himself, he will learn everything.
More theater and less homework?
A teacher of children will be better if he knows how to use these symbolic resources. The theater saved my life.
What happened?
I was twelve years old, and Els Comediants passed through Igualada, which was just beginning. And I wanted to open myself to the world, to know it.
Did you meet him?
I am from a village and the first emotion was discovering Barcelona. Against the dictatorship, everything was to be done. And we did.
What did you do?
“Friction” theatre, with my colleagues Marcelí Antúnez, Pere Tantinyà and Carles Padrissa: we founded La Fura dels Baus.
Mythical Fura dels Baus!
We were punkies shocking, we performed in the streets, people came to see us at the Plaza Catalunya metro…
I remember.
With a cart pulled by the Blanqueta mule, we went along ambushed paths, we appeared in towns, people came out into the streets, we performed in the square…
It seems like a dream.
It was all so exciting… as is everything today indifference. There were no permits or paperwork, there was only life and art.
That company later became great.
I prefer the days of small venues in Madrid, coinciding with Pablo Carbonell and his Dead Bullfighters…
Have you ever stopped doing theater?
I have always done theater, I have always been an actress: the oldest profession in the world.
It is?
One person explaining something to another, it is. And at street level and by ear… Theater is as necessary as bread. I did theater in the streets to improve the world.
Save him and save himself?
Like seeing the emotion of a child. They live their first artistic show here. With two years a child understands a story.
Yes?
It trains their listening, their attention, their sensitivity… foundations of their intelligence.
And at street level, I see here.
You open the door and go in, this is a neighborhood, this is everyday, every day I do something… And families come here from everywhere.
What is your main dish?
The play The murderer with eight wonderful actress friends: we represent it every Sunday, at five and seven.
For adults, I understand.
Yes, and there are already children who give their parents and uncles tickets for the play.
Ah, you have educated them well…
Many children have learned with the theater to overcome shyness. I insist that education prioritize oral expression: explain yourself, order thoughts… it’s basic. Everything else later.
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