Year of foundation: 1611

Last performance: -

Next performance: -

Playing Interval: Annual

Performances per Interval: -

Venue Typ: Theatre

Number of Contributors: 1000

Website: www.lapassio.net

E-Mail: info@lapassio.net

Esparreguera (Catalunya)

The origins of "La Passió d'Esparreguera” go back to the Medieval Period, when some Bible passages started being dramatized in an ecclesiastical context. As time went by, these acts grew stronger, up to the point of becoming a holiday in the town calendar. The earliest performances which took place in a closed space and in a purely theatrical context date from the 19th century (after some interruptions). Poet Ramon Torruella Satorra (Esparreguera, 1913-1968) wrote in Catalan language the script nowadays used. It was first enacted in 1960, replacing the script written by Fra Antoni de Sant Jeroni (18th c.). In 1958, the construction works of the current venue began. The theatre has got almost 1,800 seats and it opened in 1969, when the play was moved from the old "Teatre de l'Ateneu”. Live music is one of the most distinctive features of "La Passió d'Esparreguera”. An orchestra of thirty musicians, a choir of fifty voices and an organ of seven hundred tubes, bring the original soundtrack to life. The musical book ―composed by Josep Borràs Farrés (Esparreguera, 1929) especially for La Passió― has been used since 1976. Another characteristic of the stage play, in which a thousand people selflessly take part, is that it still maintains the structure of old theatrical acts. The play starts in the morning and ends in the afternoon, with a long break for lunch. In 2012, the Catalan Government awarded La Passió with "La Creu de Sant Jordi” in recognition to the path of the entity, which has been promoting one of the most distinguished shows of the traditional Catalan culture throughout its four centuries of performances.