Belbel, Sergi

b. 1963, Terrassa

   Playwright

   Sergi Belbel is one of a number of Catalan writers who have emerged since the 1980s, and the one who has had the greatest impact. Unlike the previous generation, for instance Benet i Jornet and Rodolf Sirera, Belbel has not been subject to Francoist censorship, and has never felt any obligation to deal with overtly political or social themes. He has the added advantage of beginning his career as a playwright at a time both of the recovery of text-based drama and of a relatively high level of public funding for Catalan theatre.

   Belbel is perhaps unique in post-Civil War Catalan drama in his exclusive dedication to the theatre, as playwright, director, translator and teacher. He lectures at the Institut del Teatre (Theatre Institute) in Barcelona. He directs his own plays and has also directed and translated works by Heiner Müller and Georges Perec. He has translated Bernard- Marie Koltès and Samuel Beckett, and directed Shakespeare, Goldoni and Molière in translation.

   Belbel's own plays are characterized by a concentration on personal relationships in a dehumanized society. In some plays these are mysterious, as in the dialogue between the two men in En companyia d'abisme (Deep Down) (1989). Often they are disturbing, particularly in Carícies (Car-esses) (1991), probably Belbel's most polemical play. His frank presentation of sexual questions, particularly sexual deviance, in this and other plays, has led to criticism, although his plays have generally been the subject of critical acclaim. His plays are not set in a specifically Catalan or Spanish environment: the action of Després de la pluja (After the Rain) (1993), for instance, takes place on the flat rooftop of a skyscraper in an unnamed city, more reminiscent of New York or Chicago than Barcelona.

   Belbel's plays are not didactic; on the contrary, his approach to the theatre is ludic. Humour, sometimes of a black or a farcical nature, is a constant feature of his drama. Belbel is highly conscious of the ambiguous nature of language. He is forever experimenting with language, theatrical form and stage space. His use of non-sequential dialogue and monologue is often both disturbing and humorous, and conveys a clear sense of the absurdist and dislocated nature of life. Belbel makes skilful use of stage space and uses minimalist scenery: for example, the rooftop setting of Després de la pluja variously conveys an impression of claustrophobia, agoraphobia and vertigo. Belbel's plays also make heavy physical demands on the actors. He regularly works with a relatively small group of actors, and the close rapport he has established with them is one of the main reasons for his success.

   See also: Catalan culture; theatre

   Further reading

   - Belbel, S. (1992) "Tàlem: Dossier", in Tàlem, Barcelona: Editorial Lumen/Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

   - George, D. and London, J. (1996) "Avant-Garde Drama", in D.George and J.London (eds) An Introduction to Contemporary Catalan Theatre, Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society (sets Belbel in the context of post-Civil War Catalan avantgarde drama. The only introduction to his work in English).

   DAVID GEORGE