Albert Boadella and Carlota Soldevila found Els Joglars as part of the Agrupació Dramàtica de Barcelona (ADB) which at that time existed as a section of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc de Barcelona.

First public performance of two ‘mime dramas’ at the Palau de les Nacions on Montjuïc within the first Barcelona Saló de la Imatge. The performance consisited of two 15-minute pieces of mime, in which the most typical characters of the cinema of the twenties were presented: the seducer, the gallant hero, the ingenuous heroine, the female vampire and other secondary figures. The performance was given on a small dais, at the height of the cinema screen, as if it was really a cinema projection. In the style of the silent cinema, a pianist (Joan Pineda) accompanied the performance.

Participation by a part of Els Joglars in the L’òpera dels tres rals (The Threepenny Opera), at the Palau de Música Catalana. This production led to the dissolution of the ADB by order of the Civil Governor. Els Joglars continued to enjoy the protection of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc and for this reason incorporate the initials CASLL for some years.
Presentation in Terrassa of the first production by the group, L’art del mim. First show performed on the commercial stage. This is when the concept of a coherent production begins to develop, formed of a series of independent mime pieces, that is to be maintained until 1968.

March. Performance of part of the production L’art del mim at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
April. Performance of the complete production of L’art del mim at the Fòrum Vergés in Barcelona.
April and May Season at the Teatre Windsor in Barcelona. Performance in Sabadell.
Organisation of Mime Courses.

February. At the Teatre Candilejas the second production Els deixebles del silenci (The Disciples of Silence) is premiered. The show is broadcast by TVE.
March. Performances at the Fòrum Vergés.

September. Performance at the National Congress of Children’s Neuropschiatry. Performances at the Cova del Drac. Participation in the 3rd Medieval Theatre Cycle, in the Saló del Tinell in Barcelona with the work Pantomimes del Music-Hall.

Repeat broadcast of Els deixebles del silenci by TVE in the programme Teatro de Juventud (Young Theatre).

February. Premiere at the Teatre Windsor in Barcelona of the work Mimetismes.
Performances at the Fòrum Vergès, Palau de la Música Catalana, in Tortosa and in Ciutat de Mallorca.

Premiere of Doble Programa infantil at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona.

Albert Boadella collaborates as a teacher at the Theatre Institute in Barcelona.

 

Performances in Lleida, at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona, in Sabadell and in L’Ametlla de Merola, with different mime series, including Calidoscopi (Kaleidoscope).

International Theatre Festival in Zurich, where twelve mime dramas were presented to great acclaim.

The group turns professional. Anton Font and Carlota Soldevila leave. Others accept, in a gesture that Boadella qualifies as “generous and intelligent”, the unchallenged direction of Albert Boadella who dissolves the group and chooses the actors that interest him.

October. Premiere at the Teatre de l’Aliança in Poble Nou (Barcelona) of the work El diari. For the first time use is made of the voice, props and a set. Also a first is the fact that the work deals with a single theme.

Tour of Italy which ends in Arezzo at the invitation of the International Theatre Festival, where they win the Silver Medal of the Festival.

Performances at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona.

Performances in Madrid of El diari at the Teatro Nacional de Cámara y Ensayo, in Eivissa, and at the Baluard del Portal Nou and Zaragoza Festivals; at the latter the group was sponsored by the Dirección General de Cultura Popular y Espectáculos.

Els Joglars create the Centre d’Estudis d’Expressió. The Centre had three sections: one dedicated to the techniques of expression for children and adolescents, an office for the independent theatre in Catalunya, where information was gathered with the aim of creating new circuits, and the New Theatre Studies directed by Josep Montanyès. The idea was to establish a theatre workshop and at the same time to find a formula that would allow the members of the group to survive.

January. Premiere of the work El joc (The Game) (a production divided into short stories and games) at the Teatre Capsa in Barcelona.

Performances in Sant Sebastià at the Festival Cero of independent theatre.
Performances around Spain.
June. Tour of Germany at the invitation of the Frankfurt TV. The group wins the prize for the Best Show at the Frankfurt Mime Festival. The performance is recorded by the television in Frankfurt.
October. First International Theatre Cycle in Madrid.

Summer. Recording for German television of the series Hablamos español (Let’s speak Spanish). The series set out to teach Spanish through 39 episodes, consisting of very diverse dramatised situations.

January. Residence, with two other companies, at the Mickery Théater in Amsterdam with a subsequent tour of Holland.

September and October. Yugoslavia, the Belgrade Festival of Professional Theatre. Poland, International Theatre Festival.

December. Premiere of a new work Cruel Ubris in Huesca and the Basque Country.

January. Premiere in Catalunya of Cruel Ubris at the Teatre Capsa in Barcelona. The work shared the bill with El retaule del flautista by Jordi Teixidor.
International Theatre Festivals in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Zaragoza.

Filming of the ‘short’ Aullidos directed by Jordi Lladó, in which Els Joglars participate only as actors and actresses.

December. Premiere of Mary d’Ous, prepared in temporary residence at Pruit (Osona), at the theatre of the Associació Cultural de Granollers.

Throughout the year alternate performances of El joc, Cruel Ubris and Mary d’Ous.
January. Tour of Holland with Cruel Ubris.
February-May. Season at the Teatre Capsa in Barcelona and the Teatro Beatriz in Madrid withb Mary d’Ous.
Tour of Italy with El Joc and Mary d’Ous. 16th Festival in Spoletto.
Berlin Festival with Mary d’Ous.

For Mary d’Ous, Critics Prize Serra d’Or and Fotograma de Plata for the best theatrical performance of 1973.

February-March. Commemorating the twelfth anniversary, a season at the Teatre Capsa in Barcelona with El joc, Cruel Ubris and Mary d’Ous. The first trilogy.
April. Peter Weiss attends the Capsa and offers to stage one of their works.
Performances throughout Spain and France of Mary d’Ous.

December. Premiere of Àlias Serrallonga at the 3rd Theatre Cycle in Granollers. Prior to the premiere Marta Català falls and breaks her ankle, and has to be replaced.

January. During a performance of Àlias Serrallonga in Valencia, by mistake Victor Martínez is wounded in the back after grabbing the wrong blunderbuss.

    

In a performance for television, Glòria Rognoni, blinded by the spotlights falls and fractures irreversibly her spine.
While this work is being performed Gabriel Renom has a serious motorbike accident and Ferran Rañé does the same in a car accident.
The brother of Albert Boadella dies in a car accident, after having supper in a restaurant where the name of the dining room is Joan de Serrallonga.
Performances throughout Spain. In Vitoria, at the 1st International Theatre Festival.
The work wins the Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize.

April. Performance of Àlias Serrallonga at the 3rd International Theatre Festival in Caracas, where it receives the prize for the best foreign production, awarded by the Círculo de Críticos de Teatro de Venezuela.
May. Performances in Brazil.
July. Final performances at the Venice Biennial, where it is awarded the Silver Medal.

Recording of the 5-episode series La Odisea for TVE. This series is a children’s adaptation of L’Odissea by Francesc Nel·lo to go out as part of the children’s programme “Un globo, dos globos, tres globos”.

     

Construction, at Pruit, of a (rehearsal space) geodesic dome imported from Germany, with a structure that can be fully dismantled. This structure offers the company a space that meets their artistic needs. La Torna is the first work produced there.

January. Showing by TVE of Àlias Serrallonga within the programme Lletres Catalanes.

Recording of the 6-part series Terra d’escudella by TVE. Children’s programme that offers a particular vision of King Jaume I with games and many adventures.

Organisation of various performances in the streets of the village of El Pla de Santa Maria (Tarragona) where a referendum was being held into the changing of the names of the streets (Plaza Francisco Franco or Plaza Carrero Blanco). The event came to an end with the village split as in the Civil War and the referendum suspended. El Pla de Santa Maria was one of the last places to change the names of the streets.

September. Premiere of La torna in Barbastro, various performances throughout Spain. In November it is premiered in Catalunya. In total, the work is performed 40 times.
September. The “Junta de Ordenación de Obras Teatrales de la Dirección General de Teatro y Espectáculos”, authorises the text of La torna as being suitable for all publics.
November. 48 hours after the performance of La torna in Reus, the police appear at the house of Albert Boadella, with an Order prohibiting the work issued on Military Authority, and with a summons to attend the Military Court. This is the first declaration, but immediately he receives a second summons from the same court and this time is charged, detained and imprisoned in the Model prison in Barcelona.
A strike of theatre professionals throughout Spain begins. The rest of the members of the company are also charged but released on bail.

President Tarradellas presents Els Joglars with the Josep M. de Sagarra Prize, worth 250,000 ptas, that the Diputació de Barcelona had awarded them the previous year in recognition of their artistic work.

Els Joglars are awarded the Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize for 1978 for La torna.

January. The Civil Governor in Barcelona prohibits the Festival for the Freedom of Expression.
The Military Court turns down the appeal by the 5 members of the company to dismiss the case and denies Albert Boadella’s request for release on bail. The Court Prosecutor calls for sentences of 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment for Boadella and 3 years for the rest of Els Joglars for written and public offences against the military.
February. Albert Boadella is transferred to the Hospital Clínic, under police custody, to be treated for constant dizziness and vomiting.

The campaign in support of Els Joglars extends to the international stage. A dossier on the case is sent to the Council of Europe.
The day before the Court Martial, Boadella escapes from the Hospital Clínic.
The Court Martial is suspended since not all the accused are present. However, the four actors who attend the court (Gabriel Renom, Arnau Vilardebó, Andreu Solsona and Míriam de Maeztu) are arrested and imprisoned.
March. The Court Martial hands down its decision, 2 years’ imprisonment for each of the actors.
April. Press Conferences with Albert Boadella and Ferran Rañé in Paris and later in Brussels.
Debate in the Senate on the case of Els Joglars.
May. Disagreement between Boadella and the lawyers representing the other Joglars when the former refuses to accept a hypothetical amnesty. Boadella wanted the reform of the Military Justice Code foreseen in the Moncloa Pacts which would mean that civilians could not be judged by military courts.
September. Els Joglars are granted parole. Albert Boadella meets President Tarradellas.

October. Albert Boadella stars, together with Ovidi Montllor, in the film La portentosa vida del padre Vicente by Carlos Mira with the participation of the actress Ángela Molina. The film is a humorous account of the life of the Patron Saint of Valencia. At the Goya cinema in Alcoi a group calling itself “antimarxista valenciano” plants a bomb in the toilets that forces the showing of the film to be suspended.

Albert Boadella reforms the company with new actors and premieres a new work, M-7 Catalònia in Perpignan.
October. Boadella enters Spain, is in Madrid for the opening of M-7 Catalònia, at the Teatro Fígaro where there is a bomb threat that describes the work as a “Jewish-Masonic-Separatist plot”.
December. M-7 Catalònia opens at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona. Boadella is clandestinely in Catalunya. At the end of each performance an actress announces that the company will not take a bow while one of their members is in prison or in exile. The audience applaud an empty stage.

January. The 4 actors from Els Joglars who had been imprisoned are pardoned.
March. Boadella is detained and enters the Model prison, on the orders of the military authorities.
July. Bail granted to Albert Boadella. Ferran Rañé is detained in Mallorca, and released on bail.

Performances of M-7 Catalònia in Rome, Hamburg (Theatre of Nations Festival), Milan, Munich (International Theatre Festival) and throughout Spain. The work wins the Prize awarded by the critics of the newspapers Dietz and Abendzeitung at the Munich International Theatre Festival, as well as the Prize of the Independent Theatre Association of Alicante.

A second company is created, Xalana (a flat-bottomed river boat, large enough to carry four or five persons) and it is decided to stage a theatre version of L’Odissea. Rehearsals begin but Albert Boadella is detained and imprisoned, still awaiting trial for the La torna case. Domènec Reixach, initially assistant director, who restarts rehearsals without Boadella, and the show is prepared.
September. Premiere of L’Odissea in Mallorca.

Collaboration, together with Albert Vidal, in the film La festa dels bojos (the Feast of Fools) by Lluís Racionero, which obtains the Jury’s Special Prize, Fiction, in the Cannes Festival. The film was shot some months prior to the detention of Albert Boadella. Racionero says: “what spoils the pleasure of the prize is to have received it while Boadella is in prison, being treated with a harshness out of all proportion to what he was proposing when he made La torna. I would like to offer this prize to him.”

Performances of L’Odissea throughout Spain. The second company, Xalana, is dissolved as a result of financial problems.

André Neyton produces an Occitano-French version of M-7 Catalònia with the title Rapport Wallace Müller. The Centre Dramatique puts on 120 performances of this adaptation.

May. Premiere in Barakaldo and subsequent tour of the Basque Country of Laetius.
June. Opening in Balaguer, Catalunya, of Laetius.
Performances throughout France, Andorra, and in Barcelona (Teatre Grec) and Madrid.
Ciutat de Barcelona prize 1980 for the best creative work in theatre, cinema, radio and television produced in Barcelona, for Laetius jointly with Comediants for their show Sol Solet.

 

January. Jurisdiction over the La torna case is passed definitively to the ordinary courts.

Premiere of Operació Ubú, produced by the Teatre Lliure de Barcelona and only performed until the beginning of May at the Teatre Lliure. 1981 Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for the actor Joaquim Cardona for his performance in Operació Ubú.

February. The Audiència Territorial de Barcelona (the High Court) condemns Albert Boadella to 6 months and 1 day for the offence of disobeying the court (the escape from hospital). He is found not guilty of having defamed the Military, and it is placed on record that this offence, if it had existed, would now have lapsed.

January-June. Performances of Laetius in Barcelona, Bologna and Milan (Italy), Madrid, Stuttgart (Germany) and Baltimore (USA).

Performances of M-7 Catalònia in Brussels (Belgium) and Madrid, at the Teatro Olimpia.

December. Premiere in Alicante of Olympic Man Movement.

January. Catalan premiere of Olympic Man Movement. Performances in Paris, at the Centre Georges Pompidou, on Broadway (New York), at the Mamma Theatre, in Zurich (Switzerland) and a tour of Belgium. Performances throughout Spain.

As part of the 20th anniversary of the company, the Centre Dramàtic de la Generalitat de Catalunya organises different events at the Teatre Romea in Barcelona where Olympic Man Movement is performed. The Centre Dramàtic publishes a booklet on the twenty years of Els Joglars, with articles by, amongst others, Xavier Fàbregas, Fabià Puigcerver and Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer.

Recording of the documentary style drama F.L.F. for TVE. Pilot for a future series of thirteen episodes in which each was to be a manipulated report on an international theme. F.L.F.(Football Liberation Front) is an organisation that publicly accuses modern-day football of corruption. It is like a documentary report, with real images interwoven with others specially shot.

The company buys part of the estate, El Llorà. The house dates from 1930 and was designed by the architect Francesc Folguera for the bourgeois Tecla Sala family. Els Joglars, over the years, rehabilitate the house. It is near Pruit and the rehearsal dome. The house becomes a magnificent residence for the actors during the months of preparation of productions, and occasionally is also used as a setting for courses.

February. Tour of Italy with Olympic Man Movement.
April. Theatre Festival in Caracas.
Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize for Olympic Man Movement for the best production of 1982.

December. Premiere in Alicante of Teledeum.

January. Catalan premiere of Teledeum.
Sunday Commentary in La Vanguardia by the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona Narcís Jubany criticising the show, but without naming it. Subsequent response by Albert Boadella.
April-December. Teledeum provokes many reactions around Spain. Letters are sent to newspapers or to City Councils demanding the closure of the show by the Bishops, Bishoprics, and Archbishops of Segòvia, Oviedo, Burgos, Salamanca, Logronyo, Lleida, Palència, Valladolid, Santiago de Compostela and Badajoz, together with letters from the Jaén City Council and the municipal groups of the Alianza Popular (AP) in Logronyo, Santiago de Compostela and Segovia.
The façade of the Teatre Olimpia in Madrid is covered with painted slogans.
The contract for the show is rescinded by: the Figueres Town Council, the Teatro Cine Avenida in Burgos and the Teatro Alameda in Màlaga.
The Culture Councillor in Segòvia resigns and the Director General of Cultural Promotion of the government of Castille and Leon is sacked.
Bomb threats are received in Madrid, Màlaga and Olot and Molotov cocktails are thrown, though without exploding, in Gijón.
Expiatory Masses and other events are held in Burgos, Castelló, Cáceres, Ulldecona, Tortosa, Santurze, Biscaia and Santander. In Zaragoza, performances are postponed owing to the visit by the Pope.
The lawyer Juan Riu Izquierdo in Burgos presents a criminal complaint against Els Joglars and Albert Boadella. The accused are required to pay 300,000 ptas each in order to obtain bail.
In the State of the Nation debate, the financing of Teledeum is the subject of an argument between Felipe González and Manuel Fraga.

The actor Jaume Collell, coming out of the metro in Madrid, is stabbed 17 times in the legs by unknown assailants.

December. Gabinete Libermann is premiered in Torelló (Barcelona), a production by the Centro Nacional de Nuevas Tendencias Escénicas in conjunction with Els Joglars.

Performances in Alicante, Madrid, Tàrrega, Bayonne and Barcelona of Gabinete Libermann during the year.
The Asociación Independiente de Teatro awards Antoni Valero the Best Actor Prize for his role in Gabinete Libermann.

Performances throughout Spain of Teledeum. Many letters of protest are sent to the newspapers in the cities where Teledeum is performed.
Public notes issued by the Archbishop of Valencia, the Delegació Diocesana de l’Apostolat Seglar in Jerez and demanding compensation in Centelles.
Offensive graffiti painted on the company’s lorry.
Shots are fired in the theatre in Valencia, with responsibility being claimed by the Comando Autónomo Nacional Sindicalista.
Complaint by the Valencian lawyer Carles Verdú, linked to the extreme right, alleging offences against the freedom of conscience and accusing the work of profanity, ridicule and blasphemy. The case is subsequently dismissed.
The performance of Teledeum at the Model Prison in Barcelona is vetoed by the Inspector General of the Prison Service of the Generalitat, alleging that the work is controversial and Els Joglars are a controversial group.

March. The New Stage Collective in Antwerp (Belgium) premiere a Flemish version, with very few changes, of Teledeum directed by Albert Boadella which is performed throughout Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland.

July. The book El viacrucis de Teledeum, written by Jaume Collell, an actor in the company, is presented.

On 15 August, the last performance of Teledeum is staged in the Plaça del Sol in Barcelona. At the end, Albert Boadella dressed as a choirboy and with a pistol in each hand, kills all the actors one by one. He is accompanied by his daughter who is dressed as an angel.

October. Premiere of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau in Alicante, where the company’s lorry is set on fire.

November. Season at the Teatre de València, where the extreme right lawyer, Ramon Tatay, makes a criminal complaint against Els Joglars and the manager of the Teatre València. According to the plaintiff, the work infringes various Articles of the Spanish Constitution, in particular those that make reference to the Catholic religion and the Spanish Armed Forces. The Judge orders the case to be dismissed without taking any legal action against the defendants, not finding any evidence in the play that could constitute an infraction.
Returning from Valencia, the wheels of the actors’ van are loosened. The actors realise this only when they are on the motorway.
December. Performances of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona.

Earliest protests about the poor state of the Vic-Olot road, the road Els Joglars use to get to the rehearsal dome and El Llorà.

March. Season in Madrid at the Centro Cultural de la Villa where, when Felipe González attends the performance of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau, the public receive him with the cry of “NATO No, Bases Out!”.
April. TV2 broadcasts the performance of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau.
May. Season in Seville.
July. Performances in Barcelona, as part of the Teatre Grec 1986. During the rest of the year, performances around Spain attracting diverse reactions.
Hoax bomb threat at La Seu d’Urgell, with responsibility being claimed by Milícia Catalana.
August. The Archbishop of Zaragoza, Elías Yanes, protests in a communiqué about some of the scenes in the work and considers them to be an aggravation to the Virgin Pilar and the inhabitants of Zaragoza. The members of the Parliament in Navarra draw up an official complaint to be presented to the Public Prosecutor.
In Olite (Navarra) a group calling itself the "collective of people of Navarra who profess the Catholic faith", organise a protest at the same place and time as the performance of Els Joglars in defence of the "Virgin". The performance is suspended because of a power cut, stones are thrown inside the theatre and a member of the audience and a security guard are injured.
Hoax bomb threat at Vilabertran (Girona), which causes the suspension of the performance when it was already under way.

August. Premiere in Ontinyent (Valencia) of Visanteta de Favara, a production by the Teatre Estable of Valencia, the Centre Dramàtic de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Diputació Provincial de València. Performance in Alicante where the group of AP town councillors denounce the "bad aesthetic and moral taste" of the programme handed out and the poster announcing the work. Protests "in our name and in those of many citizens against the bad taste and the performance in our city of these shows" which they qualify as of minority interest, and state that they can not be held responsible for "any financial losses that might be incurred."
Performances in Alicante, where in an anonymous phone call to the theatre, a woman says "If you start on God again, you’ll get what’s coming to you".
Catalan premiere and tour. 6th Street Theatre Fair in Tàrrega.

September. In Pamplona, the Archbishop sends a note to the government of Navarra criticising the fact that they have programmed and financed the performance of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau since he considers the work is irreverent towards the Mother of God.
The Bishop of La Rioja also censures the work of Els Joglars in an official note.
October. Complaint against Els Joglars presented to the Court in Tafalla (Navarra), by the "Asociación para la Defensa de los Valores Religiosos y Morales de Navarra" alleging derision or gross slander, a subsidiary offence of blasphemy, arising out of the performances of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau in Olite, near Tafalla, in August. The text urges that declarations be taken from each and every person appearing in the work, that is, the fake musicians in the fake musical group, and practically all the technicians and stagehands who are credited in the programme. To the names of some of the latter, the complaint adds second surnames which coincide with people living in Vic, who though having nothing to do with the work are called on to testify.
November. In Cartagena more than 500 people gather to pray in front of the Teatro Circo in protest against the performance of Virtuosos de Fontainebleau.

Performances of Visanteta de Favara in Barcelona, at the Teatre Romea, as part of the Xavier Regàs Memorial International Theatre Cycle.

 

January. For Visanteta de Favara the lawyer Ramón Tatay presents a criminal complaint against Albert Boadella for the offences of blasphemy and defamation of the Catholic religion, for causing a public scandal slandering the Guàrdia Civil, a case which is subsequently shelved.
February. Season in Valencia. The Archbishop of Valencia, Miguel Roca, circulates a Pastoral Letter against the work Visanteta de Favara.
May. The Junta Central Vicentina, the Capítulo de Caballeros Jurados de San Vicente Ferrer and the Unión de Seglares Católicos convoke an act in homage to St Vincent Ferrer "in amends and to make good the damage done in the recent acts offending against the Saint."

A version of Teledeum is premiered by the Brazilian Teatro do Onitorrinco, directed by Cacá Rosset, commemorating the ten years of the group. The premiere is scheduled to take place in the Teatro Ruth Escobar in Sao Paulo. On the eve of the opening the work is vetoed by the Censure and Entertainment Division of the Federal Police. According to a law inherited from the Military Regime, the work gravely offends against Christian religions. The decision of the police provokes a sharp reaction amongst intellectuals, politicians and artists, who protest... The censure is lifted several months later with some sections of the work being cut.

Twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of Els Joglars. The commemorative book Mester de Juglaría. Els Joglars 25 años, by Lluís Racionero and Antoni Bartomeus is published. The book is dedicated in memory of the critic and theatre researcher, Xavier Fàbregas. It is divided into two parts. The first, El discurs, is an essay by the writer Lluís Racionero on the theatre and Els Joglars, accompanied by some reflections by Albert Boadella. The second part is written by Antoni Bartomeus and consists of a summary of all the works put on by the group from 1968 to 1985.
The book is launched at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, with an act where prizes are awarded, in a kind of Jocs Florals, the eglantine, the violet, the stinkhorn... to the best texts written about Els Joglars over these twenty-five years. From reviews, to the texts of criminal complaints... La Cubana, simulating the arrival of the authorities and Els Comediants with a kind of firework display at the entrance to the Palau, also participate in the celebration.

September. Premiere of Bye, bye, Beethoven at the Teatre Principal in Palma de Mallorca.
Beginning of a tour of Catalunya and the rest of Spain.

TV3 censures Boadella, cutting parts of the programme No passa res by La Trinca.

 

January. TVE shows the programme Documentos TV, an in-house produced documentary covering the twenty-five years of the group entitled, Els Joglars: tragicomedia de la vida cotidiana (the tragicomedy of everyday life).

January. Premiere of a version of M-7 Catalònia with the title M-13 Casti-Leonia produced by the TREBEJO group (Municipal Theatre Workshop) in Salamanca. The work is staged in the Sala Fernando de Rojas of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.

Performances of Bye, bye, Beethoven in Holland (where Queen Beatriz sings its praises), Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain.
The stage design of Bye, bye Beethoven by Dino Ibáñez is a finalist in the Catalan Architecture and Interior Design Awards (FAD).

TVE puts out a sketch by Els Joglars poking fun at Barcelona Football Club, the President of the Generalitat, Jordi Pujol and the Virgin of Montserrat, as part of the programme Viaje con nosotros featuring Javier Gurrutxaga. The reactions are immediate. The telephone switchboard in Torrespaña is snowed under. Numerous protests and rebukes appear in the media throughout Spain. Opinion articles of all kinds are written. The newspaper El País dedicates part of its front page, of its back page and its Editorial to the affair. In Calafell (Catalunya), Gurrutxaga and Els Joglars are declared personae non-gratae, for lampooning the most revered institutions and symbols of Catalunya and for not staying quiet when wronged. TV3 cancels an interview with Albert Boadella scheduled to go out in the programme Mag Magazine.
In Manresa, nobody from the City Council attends the performance of Bye, bye, Beethoven. In Figueres the work is not included on the bill, the reason alleged being its ‘poor quality’. Els Joglars protest and organise a procession through the centre of the town dressed up as Mossos d'Esquadra (the Police of the Generalitat) and with caricatures of Jordi Pujol. They present the Culture Councillor, Jordi Cuadras, with a bale of hay as an Easter cake.

October. 6 episodes of Som 1 meravella (We’re a bloody marvel), recorded by TVE during the summer, go out. The title is a parody on the CiU (Convergència i Unió) government’s Generalitat slogan Som sis milions. The series is designed as a fictional journalistic report poking fun at various conflictive aspects of the Catalan reality touching on subjects like pollution, unemployment or public and private education. The show has an audience of 3 million viewers.

March. The recording begins of the 7-episode series Ya semos europeos (Now we are Europeans) for TVE. The idea of a journalistic style report used in Som 1 meravella is maintained. From a TV set, the reporter Albert Boadella presents us with an X-ray of Spain as it is about to enter the EEC. Subjects dealt with include communications, uniforms or sexism. The series goes out on TV2 on Saturday evenings in November and December. The show has an audience of 6 million.

November. Premiere of Columbi Lapsus at the Teatre Municipal in Girona.
Start of the tour around Spain.
Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize for the Best Theatrical Production of 1989.

Els Joglars register the name TEATRE NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA and invite all the theatre companies in Catalunya to join them. Support for this idea comes swiftly from Els Comediants, La Cubana, La Fura dels Baus, Dagoll-Dagom, Tricicle and others. This initiative aims to get in ahead of the project to build the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, to be directed by Josep Mª Flotats, promoted by the Generalitat. The idea is to make sure that the artistic line to be followed in Catalunya should not be that marked by the politicians.

Second protest action about the poor state of the C-153 road between Vic and Olot, the road that Els Joglars use to get to the Dome and to El Llorà. 16 gravestones are set up inscribed with the names of members of the Government of the Generalitat and personalities from the world of politics who are connected with CiU.

Els Joglars make a third protest, together with local residents, to demand repairs to the C-153 road between Vic and Olot, the road that Els Joglars use to get to the Dome and to El Llorà, mounting a campaign of painted slogans like “Via Romana”, “Cart Track”, “Danger: Potholes!”, “Better off on foot”. Finally the road is repaired, in 4 phases and at a cost of 56 million pesetas, by the Roads Dept of the Generalitat. More than sixty people attend the supper Els Joglars organise to celebrate the asphalting of the road. All the guests are named ‘Knights of the C-153’ and receive a medal.

Performances of Columbi Lapsus around Spain, in Belgium and in France.
Guanajuato, Mexico. Els Joglars represent Spain in the Festival Internacional Cervantino and subsequently tour Mexico.

International Summer Course run by the Institut del Teatre at the Dome in Pruit with classes are given to 20 students who are accommodated in El Llorà. The aim of the course is to give the participants knowledge of the processes the group uses when working on a production, processes based fundamentally on improvisation.

Albert Boadella opens the Festa Major in Parets del Vallès.

November. Premiere of Yo tengo un tío en América (I have an uncle in America) at the Teatre Municipal in Girona. This work was commissioned by the Spanish Commission for Programmes and Events to mark the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Americas.
Performances around Catalunya.

Recording of a 40-episode series of 5-minute programmes called Orden Especial (Special Order) for TVE. The second channel of TVE shows each episode three times a day and obtains an audience of 6,400,000 viewers.

1st Turia Awards, Valencia. Special Mention in theatre for Albert Boadella.

Performances of Yo tengo un tío en América around Spain. The work is vetoed for the Expo 92 in Seville but is performed anyway in Seville, at the Teatre Lope de Vega, within the programme of Flamenco dance.
Performances in Caracas (Venezuela) and Bogota (Colombia), in Germany (the Bonn Biennial) and in Chieri (Italy).
September-October. Tour of the United Kingdom (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester) and Ehrlangen. Performances in Paris (France) at the Teatre Odeon where Els Joglars protest with painted graffiti about the treatment they received, both arrogant and bureaucratic, from the theatre, treatment that inspires the following production, El Nacional.

Yo tengo un tío en América is awarded the Critics’ Prize in the European Festival of the Arts in Edinburgh and the Prize awarded by the HAMADA Foundation, also in Edinburgh.

Recording takes place of the documentary Los años vividos (The years we lived) for TVE directed by Mercedes Odina. The documentary covers the history of Spain from 1920 to the 1990s. Albert Boadella participates in the episode entitled Tiempo de prodigios (the Time of Prodigies). This episode is devoted to the 60s and attracts the largest audience. It tells the story of the lives of a generation that was later to play an important role in the life of the country. The participants include, amongst others, Felipe González, Cristina Almeida, Joan Manel Serrat and Ricardo Bofill.

January-April. Performances of Yo tengo un tío en América throughout Spain. Season in London.

October. Premiere of El Nacional at the Teatre Municipal in Girona.
Season in Barcelona at the Teatre Tívoli.

October. Albert Boadella opens the Girona Festival but boycotted by the representatives of CiU and the PP, who refuse to attend saying that “Boadella has offended Catalunya”.

January. Season in Madrid at the Teatro Albéniz with El Nacional.
February-November. Performances around Spain.
June. Performances at the Bonn Biennial, Germany, recorded by the TV channel ARTE.
National Theatre Prize 1994 awarded for the creation and staging of El Nacional, worth 2,500,000 ptas. Els Joglars renounce the prize considering that the recognition has come too late.

Recording of the episodes of ¡Vaya día! (What a day!) for the programme Lo más Plus on Canal Plus. This section consists of an ironic look at the social and political news, both national and international. It is a parody of the TV news programmes with special emphasis given to those stories that normally do not receive attention or that are covered up by particular interests.

Premiere of Ubú President at the Teatre Municipal in Girona.
Season in Barcelona at the Teatre Tívoli.

TV2 puts out El Nacional in Catalan within Catalunya and in Castilian in the rest of Spain.

Els Joglars renounce the subsidy they receive from the Generalitat, in order to be able to act more freely.
The British television company, the BBC, records scenes from Ubú President to give an alternative vision of the socio-political and artistic reality of Catalunya.

TVE reruns episodes from Orden Especial and Ya semos europeos.

Canal Plus shows episodes from ¡Vaya día!

Season in Madrid at the Nuevo Apolo with the work Ubú president.
Performances around Spain.

Ramon Fontserè receives the Barcelona Theatre Critics’ Award for the Best Interpretation of the season in his role in Ubú, President.
6th Turia Awards, Valencia. Prize for the Best Non-Valencian Theatre Production.

Albert Boadella participates in the first cycle of Spanish theatre readings organised by the University of Malaga with the title Doce autores en activo (Twelve working writers).

Albert Boadella presents the book by Josep Martinell Josep Pla vist per un amic de Palafrugell (J.P. as seen by a friend form Palafrugell).

The 35th anniversary of the company is celebrated. An exhibition, 1962-1997 Els Joglars 35 anys, is presented at the Rector Peset College of the University of Valencia. The exhibition covers the history of the company. Audio-visual displays, figures and stage sets are also put on show. The University of Valencia publishes a book-catalogue about Els Joglars with the same title, 1962-1997 Els Joglars 35 anys. The exhibition is subsequently displayed in Barcelona at the Teatre Romea and in Madrid at the Teatro María Guerrero.

May. Performances of Ubú President come to an end.

Miguel Mihura Theatre Award for the Best Female Interpretation of 1997 to Pilar Sáenz for her roles in Ubú President.

March. Albert Boadella participates in the inaugural act of the Any Pla (the Year of Pla), which commemorates the centenary of the birth of the writer Josep Pla, at the Centre Fraternal in Palafrugell with Arròs negre (Black Rice), staged reading of texts by Josep Pla, together with Lluís Molina and under his direction.

September. Premiere at the Teatre Romea of La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla. The work forms part of the events of L’any Pla.
The work is performed in Barcelona at the Teatre Romea until early November, and is then on tour around Catalunya till the end of the year.

January-March. Season in Madrid at the Teatro María Guerrero with La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla.
The work is awarded the Barcelona Theatre Critics’ Prize for the Best Show of the Season 1997-1998.

March. Presentation of the book by Valentí Puig on the life of Josep Pla El hombre del abrigo (The man in the raincoat), with the staging of the dialogue Albert Boadella entrevista a Josep Pla (A.B. interviews J.P.) played by Albert Boadella and Ramon Fontserè, organised by the Destino publishing house at the Círculo Bellas Artes in Madrid.

June. Performance in Germany, at the Bonn Biennial ’98.
The work continues to tour Spain.

Ramon Fontserè is awarded the Premi Max theatre prize by the Sociedad General de Autores de España (SGAE) as Best Actor for his role in La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla, and Albert Boadell is awarded the Premi Max as Best Theatrical Author for his creation of the work Ubú President.

May. The journalist Oriol Malló publishes the book El cas Boadella, desventures d’un joglar en temps de transició (The Boadella case, the misfortunes of a Joglar during the transition), dealing with the La Torna case.

Course by Albert Boadella El actor como creador (The actor as creator) for the 6th International Summer Theatre Course in the Sala Cuarta Pared in Madrid.

November. Participation by Albert Boadella in the “International Writers’ Congress” with Autor teatral y Siglo XX (The dramatic author in the 20th century).

January. Performances of La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla come to an end.
February. Spanish Television shows La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla inaugurating the programme La noche del teatro.

February-March. Shooting at the Dome of the documentary Buenaventura Durruti, anarquista written and directed by Jean Louis Comolli. The film is presented, in October, in the section Tiempo de historia at the International Cinema Festival in Valladolid, outside the competition.

Course by Albert Boadella at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander.

September. Premiere of Daaalí at the Teatre Jardí in Figueres.
September-October. Daaalí in Argentina at the 2nd International Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance in Buenos Aires. The play is awarded the Premio Saulo Benavente for the Best International Show performed in Argentina in 1999, the award being given by the Centro Argentino del Instituto de Teatro Internacional – UNESCO.
Performances in Lima (Peru) at the Hispano-Peruano Dramatists Encounter.
Tour of Daaalí with performances in various cities in Spain.
From November to late December. Season in Madrid at the Teatre María Guerrero where King Juan Carlos attends a performance.

Albert Boadella is awarded the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes.

March-April. Season in Barcelona, at the Mercat de les Flors with Daaalí.
May. Performances in Portugal, at the Festival Internacional de Teatro de Expresión Ibérica in Porto (FITEI).
June. Performances in Germany, at the Bonn Biennial 2000, and in the Expo Hannover 2000.
July. Performances in Portugal, at the Alamada International Theatre Festival, Lisbon.
October. Performances in Paris at the 9th Don Quixote Festival of Hispanic Theatre, and in Belfast at the Belfast Festival.
November. Performances in Berlin.
Performances throughout the year in 28 cities around Spain.

Albert Boadella publishes the book El Rapto de Talía, an essay on our showy performance society.

Bufí and Planas Awards. The Premi Joan Planas is awarded to Albert Boadella in recognition of his extraordinarily creative entrepreneurial work.

July. Oriol Malló, author of the book El cas Boadella, desventures d’un joglar en temps de transició, is condemned to pay a fine of 100,000 ptas. and libel damages of 1,000,000 ptas. to Joan de Sagarra after describing the critic, in the book, as “meretricious, a nark, a coward and a slack-mouthed bully”.

Ramon Fontserè is awarded the Premio Nacional de Teatro for his performance in Daaalí.

The play wins the 10th Turia Award, Valencia, for the Best Theatrical Work and the Jury’s Prize of the Journalists Association in Girona.

 

Daaalí continues to tour Spain.
April-May. Performances of Daaalí in Caracas (Venezuela), at the 12th International Theatre Festival, and in Torun (Poland), at the Festival Kontakt.

September. Espasa publishes the book by Albert Boadella Memòries d’un Bufó. The launch is held in Barcelona, at the Teatre Romea, and included the writer and journalist Arcadi Espada and interventions by Jordi Ubú and Pasqual Maramagnum (actors from Els Joglars). Subsequently the book is presented in various cities around Spain since it is also published simultaneously in Castilian.

September. Final performances of Daaalí in London at the Barbican International Theatre Event.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the company in 2002, Els Joglars open at the Teatre Poliorama in Barcelona with performances of La Trilogia (Daaalí, La increïble història del Dr.Floit & Mr.Pla, Ubú President o els últims dies de Pompeia). These last three plays, adapted and renewed for the occasion, represent a synthesis of the work done by the company over these 40 years.

October. Edicions 62 publishes the book by Ramon Fontserè Tres peus al gat, diari d’un actor. The book is launched in Barcelona, at the Teatre Poliorama by Albert Boadella and Els Joglars. While the book is being presented, the actors of Els Joglars and Boadella proceed to cook wild mushrooms, which are then served, together with a glass of wine, to members of the public.

Closing Session: Autobiografía y psicoanálisis gratuito by Albert Boadella at the 1st Congress on Autobiography in Spain, at the University of Cordoba.

The itinerant exhibition of posters, Els Joglars 40 anys, begins to tour various cities.

December. Presentation of the book by Els Joglars La guerra dels 40 anys with a performance of Breu Crònica de la guerra dels 40 anys by Els Joglars. The launch is held at the Teatre Poliorama in Barcelona and consists of a staging and review of the history of the company as described in the reviews received, both good and bad. The writer and journalist Arcadi Espada introduces the event.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the company, Els Joglars present La Trilogia (Daaalí, La increïble història del Dr.Floit & Mr.Pla, Ubú President o els últims dies de Pompeia) in Madrid at the Teatro Albéniz, from January to March, and in May, in Valencia at the Teatre Principal.

January. Presentation of the book by Els Joglars La guerra de los 40 años with a performance of Breve Crónica de la guerra de los 40 años by Els Joglars in Madrid, at the Teatro Albéniz. This consists of a staging and review of the history of the company as described in the reviews received, both good and bad. The writer and journalist Arcadi Espada introduces the event.

Performances of Ubú president o els últims dies de Pompeia in various places where it is impossible, for technical reasons, to present the complete Trilogy.

Presentation in Madrid of the book by Ramon Fontserè Tres pies al gato. Diario de un actor (Muchnik Publications) at the Teatro Albéniz.

June. Award of the Special Jury Prize to Albert Bo