The Arts Factory, La Seca Espai Brossa and the Centre for Catalan Studies, Queen Mary, University of London begin a joint collaboration with a conference to be held on 23-24 May at the university campus in East London. This partnership stems from a wish to disseminate the major artistic significance of the figure and theatrical work of Joan Brossa in the international sphere, particularly his unconventional drama.

Over these two days the objective will be to create a space for debate between Catalan and international scholars on Brossa’s Action Theatre and provide demonstrations of how it might be staged. Amongst the speakers will be Professors John London, David George, Héctor Mellinas and Marc Audí. Likewise,  there will be scenic performances and musical actions, with seminar delegates encouraged to suggest new artistic ideas for debate and future work. The diverse activities will include a workshop with Jordi Oriol and Carles Pedragosa that explores ways of tackling the performative nature of Brossa’s musical actions and another on Brossian versions of striptease directed by Adrià Aubert and Laura Pau from the Els Pirates company.

Thanks to this project, La Seca Espai Brossa has translated into English for the first time a large number of the published play texts of Joan Brossa’s Action Theatre so they can be accessed by staff and students at Queen Mary, University of London.

Theatrical Poetry. Actions, Dances and Striptease takes place on Wednesday, 23 and Thursday 24 May at the Centre for Catalan Studies, Queen Mary, University of London. The seminar is free but prior registration is necessary here. For more information about the programme of events, please consult the website of La Seca Espai Brossa.