City and Drama

How does a playwright think about the city? How does the city influence his writing? What is the theatrical nature of each neighbourhood of a city? Is the city a theatrum mundi and the street a stage? Speaking with Toni Casares, Josep Maria Benet i Jornet will describe his relationship with the city of Barcelona and its presence in his work, especially the neighbourhoods of El Raval and Sant Antoni. For Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, the city is a territory of conflict, of clashes and of noise, a space where contact between winners and losers, between victims and executors, is possible, and an inexhaustible source of stories.

This lecture is part of the “Open City” cycle which also features the following speakers: Evgeny Morozov, Marta Segarra, Manuel Forcano, Bruce Bégout, Rafael Chirbes, Erri de Luca, Richard Sennett and Kamila Shamsie.