The new Manresa farce, titled Cossos sants. El retorn (Holy Bodies. The Return), is structured around the popular rhyme “Manresans, lladres, pillos i gormands” (Manresans, thieves, rogues, and gluttons), which refers to the transfer of the bodies of Saint Agnes, Saint Fruitós, and Saint Maurici gloriós from Sant Fruitós to Manresa on August 30, 1372. The play, running until February 1st, raises the question: What would happen if Sant Fruitós decided to take revenge 654 years later?
“"We all clearly understand the legend of the Llum and why we celebrate the festival on February 21st... but not so much why the Manresa Major Festival is celebrated on August 30th."
This marks the debut of the young Robert Canet Torres (2004), winner of the latest Premi El Galliner, as an author in a theatrical production. The direction is handled, for the ninth time, by Jordi Gener Soto, and the choreographic direction, for the second consecutive year, by Marta Gros Creus. The organization is managed by the Agrupació Cultural del Bages.
The central setting for the comedy of errors will be a “seedy bar,” which, according to director Jordi Gener, “theatrically, offers a lot.” This environment will host a “very diverse mosaic of characters,” including the usual bar patrons and some nephews from Barcelona who trigger the plot.
The dance troupe, essential to the farce, will present five choreographies that are “very distributed” and “highly integrated” into the plot, according to dancer and Comissió Innocentada member, Aina Guitart. Rehearsals began in early October, and the cast will move into the Teatre Conservatori for the final staging before the premiere.
