The Stage as a Metaphor
A scene composed of rusty drums, overturned chairs, street lamps and barbed wire fences occupies the space above the Sala Beckett, where Qui estigui lliure, a work written and directed by Xavi Buxeda i Marcet, is presented. The set design, by Mariona Ubia with lighting by Jordi Berch, represents an open field, a place of border and otherness where three friends at the end of their adolescence meet. This symbolic representation of the wasteland as a mental and living space on the margins aligns with the text itself, granting this territory a category of mental space where young people recognize themselves and refer to it as ‘our junk’.
The Transition to Adulthood
The work addresses the transition to adulthood through the characters. Nil Cardoner, in the role of Pol, represents someone ‘stuck in chronic immaturity’, preparing his entrance onto the stage. The introduction he makes is not only metatheatrical, but it also symbolizes the prelude to adulthood and the preamble to the piece he has to tackle as an actor. Life itself, the process of growing older, constitutes the intermediate stretch between the beginning and the end. Mireia Vilapuig, playing Carla, and Pau Escobar, in the role of Àlex, complete the trio of friends seeking to belong to a place they once felt was their own.
Silences, Understandings and Mismatches
The work presents moments of a relationship marked by silences, understandings and controlled gaps between the three teenagers. Àlex’s return triggers identity issues and manifests the internal violence that affects all three. Pol, for his part, reveals emotional turmoil and quiet anger related to her self-loathing and his repressed sexuality. Carla, at the same time, fears reproducing the pattern of her alcoholic mother, but she silences her own frustrations to protect the other two. The threat of the bulldozers metaphorically projects the end of adolescence, symbolizing the change in physiognomy and the disappearance of that place.
The Emotional Weather
The interaction between the characters is characterized by a disjointed and ineloquent language, reflecting the author’s desire to capture the relational register of people in training. Despite this, the characters have moments of lucidity, expressing criticism of the city and its inefficiency. The play manages to convey the emotional weathering of the characters thanks to the powerful performances of the actors, firmly directed by Buxeda. The credibility of the link, the organicity of the scenes and the emotional escalation strongly promote the audience’s identification with the characters.