The exotic animal that revolutionized Mallorcan theater

PalmIt was the first half of the eighties. They were young, very young, and everything seemed possible. Well, everything... except making a living in Mallorca by doing theater. But they achieved that too. Iguana Teatre, a group that has been key to the Mallorcan scene, made its debut in November 1985, with a party at the Palma workshop of the painter Horacio Sapere. Forty years have now passed since then. To celebrate, this Saturday they are presenting a book and a documentary about their history.

It all began just a year earlier, in 1984, with the Centre d’Experimentació Teatral (CET), in the Theater Hall of the Universitat de les Illes Balears directed by Pere Noguera. The lobby of a faculty became a stage where a group of strange characters inspired by the universe of Samuel Beckett roamed freely. That was Waiting for Godot... The next show, El teatro obligatorio –later Cabaret obligatorio–, based on texts by Karl Valentin, was presented at what was then known in Palma as the ‘Prefestival de teatro’: a space for island companies, as a complement to that international festival with big names from the world stage. The fragment in which a very young Joan Carles Bellviure advocated –as the title suggested– for declaring theater attendance mandatory, with a characterization that powerfully recalled the then vice-president of the state government Alfonso Guerra, caused a sensation.

As Carles Molinet, one of Iguana's founders, now recalls, it was then that a small group from the approximate dozen people who made up the CET decided to go further: to form a smaller team, with a stable structure. They needed a name, a text to stage, and a van, for the performances they were hired for.

They mixed a lot of possible names until the finalists, so to speak, were reduced to three: Okapi, which made one think of an uncommon animal, in danger of extinction; La Podrida, since that of 'La...' was often used then in the theatrical sphere, and it was transgressive; and the one that remained: La Iguana, later Iguana Teatre. Of course, they had in mind the classic play by Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana. But here it was more about the animal itself, a bit repulsive, if you like, and with spikes: not very welcoming. It was a good symbol because, as Molinet explains, "we didn't want to make a friendly theater," for the complacent.

From the nightclub to ‘Night of Fire’

The founding nucleus was made up of actors and actresses Joan Carles Bellviure, Rafel Vives, Bàrbara Quetglas, Antoni Picó, Carles Molinet and Bàrbara Serra; technician Gabriel González del Valle, set designer and costume designer Jaume Llabrés, and director Pere Fullana. A proper presentation had to be made, and the artist Horacio Sapere –who designed the group's first poster– contributed his studio, in the Monti-sion area, in the historic center of Ciutat. Thus La Iguana was born in November 1985, forty years ago now.

The piece chosen for the first outing into the world was Polypus malignus, by Jordi Begueria. A piece set in a field hospital in World War I, between the absurd, science fiction, and anti-war themes. Those of one side were blond; those of the other, dark-haired. But the dark-haired doctor –Molinet– had a white streak in his hair, a sign of his ambiguity. It was to premiere that same 1985 at the Principal Theatre in Palma, but it was not presented to the public until April 1986.

Back then, making a living from theater in Mallorca was like dreaming of the stars. As was the existence of a professional orchestra –but this was created shortly after, in 1988. Only Xesc Forteza could do it, not even the members of his company. But the Ministry of Culture, which at that time, with the autonomies still in their infancy, was in charge of public grants, required companies that received them to be constituted as businesses. Iguana did so with the formula of a cooperative of its members.

Around that same time, Iguana received a commission that at once meant earning money and training in another scenic facet: creating a series of shows for an open-air nightclub in the Majorcan Levante. With that experience and reviving the festive tradition of the Majorcan devils, Nit de foc was born in 1988: a participatory show and probably the one with the largest audience in the company's history, given the massive attendance of spectators at each of its 132 performances – until 2003 –; not only in the Balearics, but also in Galicia, La Rioja, and Portugal.

Soon La Iguana gave good proof of its versatility, tackling shows of very diverse lines. On the one hand, the classics: starting with an excellent Casament per força, by Molière, in 1987 and continuing with other texts by Labiche, Dostoevsky, Büchner, Musset, and Wilde, among others. On the other hand, the recovery of Majorcan memory, whether it was the Rondaies, the entremeses, or the old cafés. And on the other, new creations, such as Myotragus (1989), inspired by island prehistory and premiered in the square of Oviedo Cathedral, or La meitat de res (1994), which reflected the concern at the time for the conflict in the Balkans.

The decisive stay at the Lecoq school

The group underwent transformations. Bàrbara Quetglas and Rafel Vives left the company after being 'recruited' by La Fura dels Baus. The actress Aina Salom, who has since become one of Iguana's key figures, and the technician Antoni Gómez joined. In 1992, the set designer Jordi Banal joined the collective. By this time, and after four decades, the 'who's who' of the Mallorcan scene has passed through their shows: among many names, the much-missed Maruja Alfaro, Caterina Alorda, the co-founder of Diabéticas Aceleradas Joan Bauçà, Aina Cortés, Antoni Gomila, Nies Jaume, Rafel Ramis, Salvador Oliva, Miquel Àngel Torrens, Xim Vidal... And, in other areas, the writer Gabriel Galmés, the philologists Josep A. Grimalt and Carme Planells, the visual artists Ferran Aguiló, Susy Gómez and Tatúm, and the musicians Antoni Caimari and Víctor Uris, among others.

, the first co-production of the mythical Teatre Lliure de Barcelona with a company from the Islands; Twist & Txhèkov (1995), based on stories by the Russian writer.

In 1996, Iguana Teatre undertook – a major undertaking – their first Shakespeare: Measure for Measure. In 2002 it was the turn of Macbeth. And here 'the Scottish tragedy' provided another proof – one more – of the bad luck that has plagued it for centuries. Ten days before the scheduled premiere, one of the actors, Miquel Ruiz, fell ill with a fever of forty degrees. Even closer to the debut, it was Molinet's turn. The entire first week of performances had to be suspended. Although it was a great success afterwards: at the Alcántara festival (Extremadura) it was applauded by 1,800 spectators.

Carles Molinet acknowledges that Nit de foc is one of the reference titles of this company, which has already doubled the maximum life expectancy of the animal from which it took its name. But he also highlights Mar de fons, the first co-production of the mythical Teatre Lliure de Barcelona with a company from the Islands; La mort de Vassili Karkov, another testament to the company's taste for Russian literature; or, of course, Twist & Txékhov, with a language that was unusual for the Mallorcan scene at the time. These are just some of the fifty shows – a remarkable number – that this group has generated in its forty years of trajectory, which it now celebrates.

Information compiled from books published by Iguana Teatre on the occasion of its twentieth, twenty-fifth, and thirty-fifth anniversaries and texts by Javier Matesanz, Antoni Nadal, Sònia Capella Soler, Jaume Marcé Recasens, and Francesc Perelló Felani.