Barcelona, July 2, 2026 — Beyond Angélica Liddell, Calixto Bieito and Florentina Holzinger, the 50th anniversary edition of the Grec Festival hides smaller-scale treasures that still carry the nonconformist spirit with which the festival was born.
“For a theater at the service of the people.” Fifty years ago, the Assemblea d’Actors i Directors launched the first Grec edition by taking over Barcelona’s streets to break through the cultural greyness of the dictatorship. They demanded an imaginative, self-managed, avant-garde theater free from censorship. Half a century later, the festival celebrates its most momentous anniversary, and although the context is completely different, it remains a space where the most daring proposals find their place.
This year’s 50th edition, inaugurated with Marta Pazos’ L’òpera dels tres rals, once again turns Barcelona into a showcase for the most restless performing arts. Àlex Rigola, Angélica Liddell, Calixto Bieito, Christiane Jatahy and Florentina Holzinger are the big names on the program — some have carried “sold out” signs for weeks. But the festival’s essence also lies in its fine print: those shows eclipsed by the major productions that are still waiting for their audience.
‘SPAfrica’ — Studio Julian Hetzel & Ntando Cele
Alongside Wasted Land, one of this edition’s most anticipated premieres, Ntando Cele returns to the Grec alongside Dutch creator Julian Hetzel with SPAfrica. A proposal halfway between theater, musical and performance that highlights inequality through something as essential as water. The premise? The launch of the first “empathy drink” — bottled water from sub-Saharan Africa exported to Europe with the “added value” of 9,000 kilometers traveled. The result is a provocative piece questioning what value we place on resources, on people, and even on emotions.
What: Theater. Where: Fundació Joan Brossa, Centre de les Artes Lliures. When: July 7 & 8.
‘L’esquerda en el món’ — Rodrigo García Olza
For those who still miss the family entanglements of Succession, director Rodrigo García Olza revives one of German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig’s sharpest texts about the most corrosive elites. L’esquerda en el món turns an apparently harmless weekend among millionaires into a keen dissection of privilege, power, and the cracks in a society on the verge of collapse.
What: Theater. Where: Sala Versus Glòries. When: July 15–26.
‘La Júlia i el tauró’ — Teatre al Detall
Family-friendly proposals can also address complex themes with sensitivity and beauty. Based on Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s novel, La Júlia i el tauró follows a teenager remembering the summer she spent in a remote Shetland Islands lighthouse with a mother obsessed with uncovering the secrets of the Greenland shark. From that emotional journey, Teatre al Detall delivers a poetic musical about family bonds, mental health, and the moment we discover our parents aren’t invincible — they’re simply doing their best.
What: Theater. Where: SAT! – Sant Andreu Teatre. When: July 16 & 17.
‘Combat des lianes’ — Zora Snake
The sound of leaves, the dry thud of drums, the increasingly dense atmosphere… Cameroonian choreographer Zora Snake guides us into the heart of the jungle, where dance becomes a form of resistance against deforestation and extractivism. Inspired by the traditions of the Baka community, Combat des lianes combines movement, percussion and ritual in a physically immersive piece that reclaims the memory of a territory and puts the body on the line as protest.
What: Contemporary dance. Where: Mercat de les Flors – Sala Maria Aurèlia Capmany. When: July 26 & 27.
‘Qui hi ha?’ — AMAGA
Picture this: it’s New Year’s Eve, and while the rest of the world celebrates, Pedro has to spend the night home alone. Or so he thinks. As if the holidays weren’t hard enough for those spending them in solitude, the Catalan collective AMAGA — specialists in crossing theater, illusionism and magic — takes that feeling one step further. Qui hi ha? weaves together fear, grief and the need for company in a disturbing psychological horror story.
What: Theater, illusionism and terror. Where: Fundació Joan Brossa, Centre de les Artes Lliures. When: July 13–22.
‘Nosaltres, mortals’ — Sara Sors
Nosaltres, mortals sets out to recover the memory of women in prison. Playwright and director Sara Sors constructs a piece of documentary theater that travels from the present to the 17th century, reconstructing — through real testimonies, archival documents and fictionalized scenes — the history of a penitentiary system that has punished women far beyond their sentences. A work of historical memory with an openly feminist perspective.
What: Documentary theater. Where: Teatre Eòlia. When: July 3–12.
‘Ceramic Circus’ — Julian Vogel
Swiss artist Julian Vogel takes on porcelain in a circus show filled with extremely delicate objects that constantly challenge his balance. Between roller skates, bicycles, live percussion and impossible acrobatics, Ceramic Circus unfolds as a frenetic succession of carefully choreographed disasters, where risk, error and even breakages are part of the show.
What: Contemporary circus. Where: Mercat de les Flors. When: July 14 & 15.
‘Cantar de gesta’ — Mucha Muchacha
Who are the heroes of our time? The collective Mucha Muchacha — Belén Martí Lluch, Ana Botía García, Marina de Remedios and Marta Mármol — revisits the spirit of the Cantar de Mio Cid to ask how we tell our stories in the 21st century. Through dance, music and spoken word, Cantar de gesta champions a new epic where care, affection and small everyday gestures replace the great feats of medieval heroes.
What: Contemporary dance. Where: Mercat de les Flors. When: July 24 & 25.
‘Le Début’ — Aleix Colomer Campoy
Aleix Colomer Campoy’s debut at the Grec couldn’t be more fitting. Winner of the Institut del Teatre’s Dance Award, the choreographer presents a piece that starts from “first times” to question how much truth there is in our memories. In Le Début, six performers embody a reflection on memory and those moments we believe we’ll remember forever.
What: Contemporary dance. Where: Mercat de les Flors – Sala Ovidi Montllor. When: July 28 & 29.
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