The artistic contribution of Els Joglars to the marking of their 40th anniversary takes the form of the presentation of the company’s last three works which make up the so-called Trilogia: Ubú President (1995), La increïble història del Dr. Floit & Mr. Pla (1997) and Daaalí (1999), adapted and reworked for the occasion and played consecutively by the same team of actors from the company.

The works that we present are not simply the description of three different characters because, when taken as a whole, they also offer a vision of the customs, contradictions, vulgarities and genialities of the people of this small corner of the Mediterranean.

Anyone who does not know our land could, through this trilogy, gain an overall idea of some of the characteristics that characterise it. This is not to say that we are talking of characteristics that are so exceptional as to require access codes, nor to justify ethnic whims, since in the western world of today everyone possesses a truly commendable egalitarian will, with excellent results if the objective is simply a generalised homogenisation.

The elements that make up everyday life in this country have been rendered uniform to such an extent that only within the realms of delirium can we find different versions of a reality that has become ever more tightly circumscribed by the workings of the market.

In this sense, and for different reasons, our three characters are possessed of the same delirious characteristics.

The exceptional common sense of Dalí appears as delirium when it takes pictorial form, while the lack of common sense of Ubú-Pujol, when applied to politics, becomes a permanent delirium on the fringes of authentic reality. Quite the opposite of the lucid wisdom of Pla who, in the eyes of a contemporary consumer clone, might seem to be a delirious version of individuals and their acts.

At the same time, the three works represent the synthesis of the last forty years work by the company. Those who have followed a part of this trajectory will have no difficulty in hearing echoes of other plays, such as Serrallonga, Mary d’Ous, Olympic Man, and M-7 Catalonia, amongst others. This is only natural since the line of our work has been unbroken since 1962, and this line, this tradition, not only involves a style but also, and above all, a way of working together as a group that has evolved and distilled over the years into the magnificent team we have today. I won’t go on because I’ll be accused of inciting the envy of other nations.

Albert Boadella