Individual residencies / Andorra
DAVID MARTÍNEZ
From Monday, 9 June 2025 to Monday, 23 June 2025
Bio
A graduate in dramatic art from ESAD in Murcia, David Martínez has worked as a theatre teacher since 2001. He has been part of the Teatre Romea Company, the Teatre Lliure and the National Theatre of Catalonia, among others. He is the artistic director and founder of La Nave Va, a company with which he has produced theatrical works with an educational and social vocation. He has worked as an associate professor at the University of Metropolia in Helsinki and is currently an associate professor at the University of Girona and with the Postgraduate Programme in Performing Arts and Social Action at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona.
Some of his recent works as a playwright and director are Com qui sent ploure (Like the Person Who Hears Rain) (La Planeta, in co-production with El Canal de Salt and La Nave Va), Ana y Serafín. Inquilinos de la periferia (Ana and Serafín: Tenants of the Periphery) (a co-production of Factoría Los Sánchez and La Nave Va), No em preguntis quan estic germinant (Don't Ask Me When I'm Sprouting) (POEFA European project, Santa Coloma de Farnés) and Un nosaltres abans que un jo (A We Before a Me) (production by Basket Beat with the help of Art for Change at La Caixa). He has produced different theatrical adaptations and written publications on art and education.
Project
Project
Arrelant-nos (Taking Root) – theatre play
During the residency, he will write Arrelant-nos, a 30-minute play aimed at young people in a classroom theatre format, followed by a debate with the audience. With the aim of getting people to reflect on current issues such as the economic and social crisis we are experiencing and generating critical thinking, the play will look at man's relationship with nature, based mainly on four books: Els cinc elements (The Five Elements), by Yayo Herrero; Gritar lo que está callado (Shout What is Silent), by Alejandro Quecedo; AntropOcéano (AnthropOcean), by Cristina Romera, and Estripar la terra (Tearing up the Earth), by Pol Dunyò.
Arrelant-nos will be the third in-class theatre show from La Nave Va, after Cendres (Ashes) by Ferran Joanmiquel, a brief look at grief and its phases, and La falca (The Wedge), by Alejandro Santaflorentina, on mental health and the risk of youth suicide.
AN ENVIRONMENT OF CONTRASTS
Having the opportunity to be in a place alone, where you can focus on the creative act, is a highly necessary and unusual situation. I went with many ideas to explore in the realm of stage writing. As mine was a work based on previous research, it allowed me to reread texts from a different perspective and in a more relaxed and reflective manner. Especially with regards young people. Slowly but surely I filled the work tables and the cork board on the wall with diagrams, ideas and drawings, the content of which was developing in a rhizomatic fashion, forging interconnections between many possibilities.
The environment was ideal for developing the story of a character who was opening up their sensitivity and connection with nature. After hours of reading and writing, being able to stroll along the river that runs in front of the residence was crucial. So too was the chance to perceive the contrast between the natural space, surrounded by cranes and construction, and the possibility of moving from urban sprawl to nature park in a very short distance.
It was very rewarding to be able to go to the theatre classroom in Andorra. Young people positioned themselves within the theatrical proposal and spoke about how the climate crisis is affecting them. It was telling to see how the entire group had an almost identical perception regarding the way global warming impacts them, others and the environment. I take away a number of interesting thoughts.
The event also allowed me to meet people like Gemma Piera, who has a space in the Residence's workshops, and to talk with Alfons Valdés about modern-day Andorra. I visited the Bicycle Museum, where I saw a temporary exhibition and documentary about the Andorran Solidarity project KARABAN (linked to an artistic project with an environmental reflection).
In short, it was a productive time and I left with a well-advanced play that had been selected to be part of a catalogue of shows to be performed in high schools next year.
I thank Sandra for her attentiveness and Faber for giving me the opportunity to have this experience, which I highly recommend.
