Marta Ferré: There is a long way to go in the musical field, in dance, or in other types of younger theatre

ManacorMarta Ferré Freitas-Morna (Lisbon, 1978) is already serving as the new manager of the Manacor Theatre and Auditorium. A transition that comes after four decades of Tomeu Amengual at the helm and which opens a new period of hopes and challenges to expand the reach and proposals that go beyond text-based theatre.

How do you feel now that the season is about to begin?

— I feel immense joy, with an incredible responsibility and also with a little bit of fear... It will be a huge experience because Manacor is a benchmark, and not only in Mallorca.

What was your first impression when you found out the position was vacant?

— In a conversation someone said: "Listen, this has come out...". Suddenly I thought that I had to apply for it. Although the truth is that I did not imagine that this moment would arrive... I believe that everyone who has dedicated themselves to cultural management and the management of performing arts spaces in Mallorca sees Manacor as such an interesting, such an emblematic and such a powerful space, that it is very tempting. It is an important place within a professional career.

How does Marta Ferré start to make a place for herself in cultural management?

— I arrived in Mallorca in 1996 to start working at Grup Serra, where I met Guillem Frontera. I went back and forth to Barcelona several times during those years. In Barcelona, I worked as a documentalist and translator. I had always organized events or helped to organize them. But it was not until I returned definitively that Guillem proposed I become part of a new project called Balears XXI, a Government foundation that mixed tourism and culture and was created in the year 2001. He proposed that I join as head of cultural activities and projects. This was my first major experience in cultural management.

How do you manage something that works or that in theory works so well?

— Each project is different; it has good things, bad things, things that must be maintained and things that must be redirected. Manacor has done incredible work, mainly in the field of text-based theatre in Catalan. In this sense, it is an example of a space that works. There are also other areas that, if in 30 years' time we manage to get them to the level of text-based theatre, it would be wonderful. Because there is a long way to go in many other areas. In the musical field, in the field of dance, in other types of younger theatre... We must also take into account that the world is changing very quickly. There are hybrid formats, there are many young people experimenting with other languages that would also be interesting to incorporate. Basically, it is about trying to maintain what Tomeu [Amengual] has looked after for so many years, which is text-based theatre in Catalan or the school theatre exhibition. And on the other hand, being able to start doing this work in other areas, going to look for other audiences, making contact and also networking between spaces... I think there is a lot of potential in this path.

The world of dance, for example, is not very well represented. There is also a film club here in Manacor that has to go on a pilgrimage to the multiplex cinemas when perhaps it could have a stable schedule at the theatre. How should it be done to satisfy everyone?

— It is very difficult; you never manage to make everyone happy and I don't think that's the idea either. You have to try to do things following a logic, following a plan, and so that there are fruits now and many years from now. They are municipal spaces and that is something we must keep very much in mind. A municipal space must have these two sides. The most spectacular one, of proposals that directly appeal to an audience and that are professional shows within a seasonal program. But then, as I was saying, these spaces are municipal and therefore belong to the community. And the community must be able to use them.

Cultural events are also economic.

— Yes, without money obviously you cannot do things. But it is not just economic... I believe the great challenge, more than economic, is to organize the space, the time, the staff and the resources in the most effective and efficient way possible.

There is a lack of staff, that is evident.

— There is a lack of staff, but here and everywhere. You were telling me before that dance is poorly represented. Dance is poorly represented everywhere... We work in a field that is complicated. But it is true that here, in Manacor, there is little staff for the infrastructures we have and it is a miracle that things work so well. And it is because this staff pours their soul into it. I have met wonderful people who dedicate many hours and their lives to this. That is why it works, because this staff is truly dedicated to the theatre.

Will there be any news in the short term?

— Luckily, Tomeu has left a good part of the season scheduled for me, because otherwise it would be impossible to arrive here and have to schedule everything from scratch. The structure, to begin with, will be very similar to what has been done so far. The only thing is that now we will have two subscriptions: one for three shows and up to six, and another for seven or more. They include the entire Auditorium program, all the theatrical programming, and also the Symphony Orchestra. This season we will also start some project, a little closer to the end, which I cannot announce yet. With a view to next season, we will try to start a couple of new lines, which we will start working on from now.

What is it like to have to organize so many spaces?

— Many of these spaces, which are in the theater building, have been occupied since October for rehearsals of the School Theater exhibition. I think that people from outside Manacor are not aware of it, and many imagine that they are the end-of-year performances of the children who do theater... and that is not it. The school theater exhibition is an incredible project that has yielded all these fruits that we have today. If it had not been for the exhibition, I doubt very much that Manacor would have consolidated itself not only in Mallorca, but throughout the Catalan-speaking scene. Manacor is the benchmark. There is no other place that has done this work. This is a marvel and we are not aware of it.

How do we then ensure that these rooms also coexist with the programming?

— It is extremely complicated, it is like a game of Tetris. But it is possible. Of course, it involves many hours of work during the week and then on the weekends with programming for the public. But it can be achieved. And then we have the Auditorium, which is a very versatile and impressive space, with 800 seats.

You have been to the Principal and the Municipal in Palma and in Inca. Does each theatre operate in a very different way?

— Each space is different. I have two very distinct profiles. I have a part more focused on artistic direction, where what I can contribute most is networking and relationship-building, connecting projects and building bridges, and, therefore, always offering programming where you can play with cycles or paths. And then I have another profile which is management. And I love this one... I know it is a very strange thing, but I love the economic, legal, judicial, and bureaucratic side. It is a challenge to make the administration more agile and at the same time more guaranteeing.

A wish for this path that is beginning?

— In the long term, I would love for the success that Manacor has achieved in the field of text-based theater to also expand to others, such as dance, for example. Because it is always the poor sibling of the performing arts. Theoretically, it is a more difficult, more complicated language, but that is not true. Dance is the most universal. Just like music, they are languages that enter through the skin. On the other hand, I would also like for the Manacor Theater Fair to once again be the benchmark it was a few years ago. This has been diluted in favor of the Fira B!, for example. Even so, programmers, in their imagination, perfectly remember Manacor as a meeting point.

Manacor is a large municipality with other population centers. How is it done to bring theater to Portocristo, to Son Macià or to l'Illot?

— It is always complicated. The Department of Culture of the City Council does part of this work, that of bringing proposals to other centers. On the other hand, for example, the City Council makes every possible effort so that all the children come to see the plays when they are done as school theater, making buses available. We must ensure that people travel and the distances are not that long either.

And with street theater?

— I am a huge advocate for street activities. When I have had to work in a venue, I have always missed being able to go outside, and when you only work on the street, you always miss having a venue to showcase more complex projects that require a more complex technical setup. The ideal thing is to do both. But yes, the street is the easiest way to reach the public, always.