The therapeutic theatre for young people presents “Happy City”

The Ales de Teatre company, made up of young people aged 16 to 25 and mainly treated in mental health units at Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, premiered the show Happy City on 27 March in the Sala Tallers at the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC). The show is the outcome of a partnership between Ales de Teatre and five high schools in Barcelona and its surrounding area through the En Òrbita project run by the TNC's Educational and Social programme.

The project aims to give a voice to vulnerable groups and put them in contact with young people from various high schools to bring these two realms closer together. “En Órbita seeks to bring together two groups of people who would not have the chance to get to know each other under normal circumstances, but who can through theatre with the goal of dispelling prejudices and ensuring they can express themselves freely through the performing arts,” says Sònia Camacho, head of the TNC's Educational and Social Programme.

En Òrbita is an ambitious project which involves up to five high schools working throughout the creative process in partnership with a group of young people from Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, who are the creators of the theatrical production. Together with a team from the TNC which supports them on a weekly basis, they have co-created a play entitled Happy City about the city, the environment where they would like to live and all that it stands for.

Out of the five high schools taking part in the En Òrbita programme, the group of students from Institut Dr. Puigvert has been tasked with creating all the set design for Happy City while the other four (Barri Besós, La Bastida, Vila de Gràcia and Martí Pous) are working on a play inspired by the piece crafted by the young people from the ‘Ales de teatre’ company.

A creative and healing process

Throughout the creative process, the script of the play takes shape week after week with the help of each of the actors in the company (who also play various roles), guided by director Pere Borrell and by professionals from Parc Sanitari SJD who support the young actors in all the rehearsals: psychologist Noemí del Prado, and social educator and coordinator of the institution's theatre teams, Marta Oliu. Oliu says that it is very positive that the young people have this creative space: "we have been working on this play since October and we see that the young people are beginning to express themselves more authentically, to feel more capable and more valid with each passing day. We are convinced that the creative process is much more important than the creation itself."

For the company's actors, making this commitment is a challenge: “For me, doing theatre is totally therapeutic and it is one of my passions. When I do theatre I feel I am not being judged, that I am totally me and I feel very comfortable. Doing theatre is liberating," argue two of the actors and creators of the play.

The TNC's educational programme stresses that En Òrbita is an extremely positive project. “The outcomes are always surprising: people who find artistic vocations, friendships that are forged, relationships between the two chosen organisations and learning a lot about other situations,” notes Sònia Camacho.

Happy City's premiere will be on Thursday 27 March at the TNC's Sala Tallers and is sold out.