The Libretto of the Community Opera in Sant Andreu District
How is the libretto of a community opera written? What voices, places, and memories make it possible? In this newsletter, we share some key insights into the creative process behind La rosa dels set pètals, the libretto of Opera Prima’s second community opera in the Sant Andreu district of Barcelona.
Writing workshop “The Voice of Sant Andreu,” led by Blanca Bardagil, dramaturg of La rosa dels set pètals
Writing Rooted in Sant Andreu
The libretto of La rosa dels sets pètals, written by dramaturg Blanca Bardagil, emerges from a research process focused on the Sant Andreu district and its seven neighbourhoods. Through dialogue with local organisations, community groups, residents, as well as testimonial and documentary research, the author has built a dramatic universe deeply connected to the territory and its memories, both visible and invisible.
VIDEO Meeting between dramaturg Blanca Bardagil and former political prisoners from the former women’s prison in Trinitat Vella, former Fabra i Coats workers, and members of the Trinitat Uneix association at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
An Intergenerational Story
La rosa dels set pètals offers a journey from the 1960s to the present day through the story of several generations of women from one family, exploring themes such as freedom, resilience, and identity from a feminist perspective.
The opera unfolds in settings closely tied to the district’s history: the Fabra i Coats factory and the former prison of Trinitat Vella, which becomes a symbolic space representing peripheral realities and silenced struggles.
The work weaves together a story of collective memory with the Sant Andreu district choir, which acts as a collective conscience and connects past, present, and future.
The libretto in dialogue with the community
As part of Opera Prima’s community engagement programme, a writing workshop led by Blanca Bardagil was organised in different spaces across the district, with the participation of local memory and history groups. Participants created first-person monologues inspired by heritage elements from the seven neighbourhoods, generating an experience of writing and collective reflection. In this way, La rosa dels set pètals takes shape as a shared creative process that gathers and gives voice to the memories of the Sant Andreu district. You can read the monologues below, and soon you will also be able to listen to recordings made by the authors themselves.
This week, the partners of the AMPLIFY project presented at the Liceu the first results of the virtual immersive interaction we are co-creating. This experience makes it possible to enter a women’s prison environment, such as the former Trinitat Vella prison, and discover what took place in a context of repression like that one.
The experience is being developed together with former political prisoners from the women’s prison of Trinitat Vella, the artistic company LabOriosa (responsible for the script), the Centre d’Estudis Arxiu Vilabesòs Association, the Museum of the History of Barcelona (with Carmen Cazalla), the opera’s composers Tomàs Peire and Lucas Peire, and Marta Flórez, PhD in Landscape Archaeology.
Project updates
New episode of La Coctelera, CIO's podcast. Opera and community vermout. You can listen to it here.
27 March | Opera Prima - Barcino itinerary. A discovery walk through the area together with the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, exploring the archaeological route of Roman Barcino from Trinitat to the city centre.
10 April | Visit by students from the School of Second Opportunities
A visit to discover the different professions involved in an opera theatre.
