Carles Sala: "In theatre, everything must be explained through dialogue and silence. It's beautiful and, at the same time, complicated."

PalmHe has been a professional writer for over 15 years, has received numerous awards, and has published more than 40 books. Even so, for Carles Sala (Girona, 1974), receiving the Ciutat de Manacor de Teatre Jaume Vidal Alcover prize for EjThe play, now published in book format, has been a relatively new experience for her: it is her second play, and also her second for adults, as she had previously dedicated herself exclusively to children's literature. The presentation ofEjThe presentation of the works by the three other winners of the literary categories of the Ciutat de Manacor awards will take place next Friday, November 14, at the Antoni M. Alcover Public Institution.

Two plays for adults and two awards: that must mean something, right?

— And both in Mallorca, last year's Father Columbus with The cabin And now this. Now I can't help but associate Mallorca with theater and awards [laughs]. The truth is, I'm very happy, and I was very aware of the Ciudad de Manacor award: I had already entered a few years ago, with the play that ultimately won the Padre Colón prize.

However, her specialty until now had been children's literature. How did she get into theater?

— It was a double shift in style, really: from narrative to theater, and from writing for children to writing for adults. But I'd always considered theater because, among other things, I really enjoyed dialogue. Well, I enjoyed it until I started writing plays and realized how difficult it is, having to say everything through dialogue. And through silence, of course. I have a great time writing plays, even though... Ej It has also cost me more than I thought.

Because?

— That's what I was saying about dialogue. I come from narrative, where you can include all the descriptions you want. Well, not all of them, because children are very frank and you have to be very careful. But in theater, even with scenery and described elements, everything has to be said and suggested through dialogue and silence, which makes it more beautiful and, at the same time, much more complex. It's fascinating.

In the case of the work with which you won in Manacor, ANDX tells the story of a group of strangers who suddenly discover they have at least one thing in common: they are all ex-partners of the same person. Where did the idea come from?

— Well, it has a part based on real events, the starting point. I have a friend who had a partner of a few years and little by little discovered that he was a womanizer who was seeing other people while he was with her. And she met these other people and has become close friends with one of them. And this got me thinking about the bond that can exist between a person's ex-partners. We often talk about our exes, but what happens between all those who share one? Do they have anything in common? If you put them all together, would there be any affinities between them?

And from this comes a comedy that talks about what we know about people and also what we don't know, isn't that right?

— A comedy that's largely about them, but also has its tragic parts [laughs]. And yes, the idea is that their meeting can lead them not only to discover things they didn't know about Miquel, that ex they all share, who isn't present at the meeting, but rather between them. The perception you have of the characters at the beginning of the play is completely different from the one you get at the end, and I really like that. If you read the play twice, it would be very different, the second time from the first, and this is something I particularly like about the final result.Ej.