Dijous 15 de maig, a les 17h, tindrà lloc la mostra del projecte de creació comunitària en el marc de Trànsits 2025

On Thursday, May 15, at 5:00 p.m., in the Performance Hall, the presentation of ‘The House Is on Fire’ will take place — the final work of the community creation process carried out over the past few months at La Central del Circ, with the Nongratos Teatro company and a group of participants from the Joia Foundation, as part of Trànsits 2025, and with the support of the Barcelona Crea Grants.

Over the course of these months, participants engaged in an introspective exercise from the perspective of their mental health. At the beginning, through the creation of a collage, they shared a self-portrait and a depiction of the life cycles they had experienced. This was the seed that was later nurtured through scenic dynamics that gave bodily representation and movement to their personal stories.

Theater and movement exercises created space for the development of individual expression and, through the concepts of risk and falling, the circus arts introduced reflections and practices related to collectivity, self-confidence, group trust, and teamwork. This process explored ways of approaching these fundamental circus concepts through alternative lived experiences.

Later, the focus shifted to creation and writing, always grounded in the participants’ personal experiences and authenticity, shaped and nuanced by a collective framework. At the same time, interviews and portrait videos were recorded to capture their testimonies in an audiovisual format. In addition, a series of postcards were created featuring their collage artworks, a highlighted quote from their testimonies, and a scannable code linking to an audio recording of their reflections.

Each person had the freedom to choose what they wanted to share on stage, and the facilitators guided them in finding ways to do so, responding to needs expressed during the sessions. Transitions that would provide continuity between the different moments were collectively imagined and integrated.

The audiovisual component was developed using each participant’s visual work as raw material; these images were animated and incorporated into the performance. A mobile platform was also built as a scenographic element to activate the notions of risk, teamwork, and trust. The final result is a public presentation in which participants will open a window into their inner worlds and the collective experience they’ve lived through performance.

The presentation offers a portrait of a group of people who share a way of experiencing the world that exists outside of normative frameworks. The stories of each character immerse us in their personal universes, highlighting their authenticity in relation to two fundamental circus concepts: risk and falling.

Participants and facilitators:

Artistic team of the Non Gratos Teatro company:

• Direction: Mariana Fernández
• Management / Production: Mariana Fernández and Macs Chávez
• Audiovisuals and Graphic Design: Macs Chávez and Diego de Anda
• Artistic collaborators: Jabber Bonfil, Linda de Berardinis, Otto Monedero

Participants from the Joia Foundation: Yolanda Batlle, Daniel Souto, Ismael Márquez, Gema Tapia, José Luis Casado, Juanfra Ramos, Edi Barbeira, Antonio Miguel Romero, and Marisol González

With the support of: Lidia Bonet Arnaiz and Marc Mas Rovira, from the Sant Martí Social Club; and Natalia Alegre, from the Sant Martí Community Rehabilitation Service

Mediation: Esther Blázquez, from La Central del Circ