International Observatory Of Theatres At Risk

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Sala Beckett

Located in Barcelona

Founded in 1989 as the long-term venue of the company El Teatro Fronterizo, la Sala Beckett of Barcelona has survived the company which established it, and the venue is still an area of dramatic creativity and experimentation with its own personality and notable prestige within the panorama of national contemporary dramatics. La Sala Beckett is a small theatre (with a capacity which does not exceed that of 80 people) however it is highly important in the national theatre arena as it regularly supports and promotes new creators and writers.

The theatre is located on the ground floor of an industrial building in the Gràcia neighbourhood with venues on other floors of the same building. A year ago the directors of the theatre discovered that the entire building had been bought by a large Barcelona-based real estate company. The new owners wish to terminate the present rental contract of the theatre, and after a year of negotiations, have opted to resolve the matter in the courts. The current state of future uncertainty makes programming and planning extremely difficult.

The lack of a law which specifically protects areas of cultural use in the city leaves this theatre and other leased venues, both large and small, in a situation of total vulnerability. The socio-political surrender of public authority to the laws of the marketplace and property speculation make the survival of non-economically motivated cultural projects impossible as meeting the astronomical property prices of the city is out of the question.

Related Links
Sala Beckett

La sala Beckett "batallará" para mantener abierta su sede actual
[in Spanish] El País - Barcelona - 04/09/2007



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