God, I love this theater. There’s nothing like it — not in Barcelona, not in Madrid, not in New York. Soon it’ll be six years that I’ve been performing there. This was the first place I worked when I got to Barcelona. Immediately when I arrived, some friends took me there to meet the owner, Lluis. He let me have Mondays. The rest is history.
I love the Llantiol because as disastrous and chaotic as it can be, it’s the only one of its kind: a gorgeous labor of love by Lluis, who designed and restored it. An independent cabaret theater with romantic lamp-topped tables, a magical atmosphere, a wonderful Italian waitress named Fabiana, and an eccentric Russian manager named Yuri.
It’s important to have places like the Llantiol. Because it’s beholden to no one, with no agenda and no political pressures, someone like me — an immigrant who didn’t speak the language — was able to start from zero and learn how to perform in a new language. It’s a place for students to attempt their first work, fall flat on their faces, and try again. It’s a place for seasoned professionals to return to, for the sheer pleasure of performing in an intimate, familiar atmosphere.
The Llantiol was my first home in my new country. No matter what changes and upheavals go on in the volatile Raval neighborhood, the Llantiol still stands. And I hope it always does.
Photo at piano by Marco Quiroga Marazzato.
O como dijo Eugenio: el Café teatro más importante de la Riereta… Llantiol forever!
Amen!
I just love to read that and know everything runs smooth as silk there. Congratulations and long live Rachel Arieff. See you on 15th, I miss you so hard. Mwah.