In the heart of the Gràcia neighborhood, where the streets breathe history and culture, is L'Autèntica Teatre @the authentic theater, a space that exhibits works and cultivates experiences. Founded and directed by Verónica Pallini @vero_pallini , actress, teacher, and theater researcher, this theater has become a living laboratory for creation, training, and social transformation. From its beginnings as Porta4 in 2006 to its consolidation as L'Autèntica www.lautenticateatro.com, the project has evolved with a clear vision: to make theater a tool for deep connection between people.
They kick off the season with their immersive installation for babies, Flow, from September 4 to 6, and in October they launch the "Escena Viatgera" series, featuring four shows, including Toca-Toca, Diminutivo, and two Catalan premieres: Lemba, an award-winning show at the Polish puppet festival, and Baby Esferic.
In addition, information sessions on the courses of “Theatre for adults“Theater for young people” and “Cinema”, fundamental pillars of his artistic school.
Today we sit down with Verónica Pallini to learn more about her career, her vision of art, and the future of L'Autèntica.
How would you describe your personal and professional journey leading up to founding L'Autèntica Teatre? I am an actress, trained in Buenos Aires, and an anthropologist. I always tried to combine my two careers. In fact, my first undergraduate thesis was about a theater, El Complejo Teatral, in Buenos Aires, which, coincidentally, we will now be presenting with one of our plays, “No entenc els homes.”
I did an anthropological study to understand theater policies in Buenos Aires, and from there, I always use anthropology to think about theater. I like all the basic thinking that goes into later building on creation. It's a master's degree. Theater has been in my blood since I was little. I was always guided toward art, it's in my soul. I discovered theater when I was 18. That's how I came to l'Auténtica. After many journeys, I won a scholarship to come to Barcelona to do what I love most: teach classes and create the entire Porta 4 project, where I was able to act and now direct.
What is the philosophy that guides L'Autèntica's programming? L'auténtica has many philosophies in each area because we work extensively on reflection, from a theoretical perspective, and in constant interaction with the practical. But truly, L'auténtica's philosophy is to provide a unique space dedicated to our young and important audience members, both present and future. Because these are the audience members who will shape the theatrical landscape. So, it's a beautiful and demanding challenge to welcome our children because they come with their own honesty; whether they like it or not, we give them a space adapted to be their theatrical home. And when they walk down the street, they recognize their home, a space just for them.
We take great care with our programming; the guiding thread is aesthetic innovation and pedagogical care.
What inspired you to create Flow, the immersive installation for babies, and how has it been received by the public? Flow is our fourth immersive installation. At the production company, we are dedicated to creating immersive installations, where we seek to make babies the protagonists, where they truly have a space of creative freedom, where they can communicate with the scenic event with their own subjectivity. This allows for the generation of playful, creative, and imaginative triggers for babies, where the piece interacts with their own subjectivity, opening up their cognitive and creative universe of exploration.
In this sense, Flow works on water, the life cycle, water from birth, a uterus is generated in the womb, and that path for all the senses that water awakens, that works on flow, with the quality of this matter and it is a language that babies understand and enjoy on stage.
Families are very grateful that these shows are designed for babies and really enjoy the offering.
What other notable works will be presented at L'Autèntica between September and October? This season's lineup is extensive. We're kicking off the season with immersive installations, mainly from companies in Catalonia. In October, we're presenting a "Traveling Scene" series featuring the region's best offerings, including a pair of exclusive premieres in Catalonia: Lemba (winning several international awards) and Babyesferic.
How do you select the companies and proposals that are part of the program? We're primarily interested in companies with a track record in family and children's theater, who research their performances with rigor in their aesthetics and sublime care for everything related to the baby's development and pedagogy, because all dramaturgy must be focused on this age group.
What role do documentary theater and LABS play in current theater programming? The production company L'Auténtica has two core lines: baby installations, which can be audiovisual or immersive, and another very strong line, LaBs and documentary theater.
I'm very interested in field research and then being able to create. So the labs involve working on different social themes with people involved in them, and then, together, we begin to create the script. That's where "No entenc els men" (We Don't Understand Men) comes from. This documentary theater piece has been running for three years. It will be in theaters in October. Afterwards, we're going on tour in Argentina to the Theater Complex, the National Theater of La Plata, and the Nün theater. I actually worked here with two scholarships to research with 3 cisgender men, and that's where the stage proposal came from.
How does L'Autèntica connect with the local community and groups at risk of exclusion? We've always had a strong connection with various groups, associations, and groups at risk of exclusion. We work with single-parent immigrant women. Our focus is on accessibility to the theater and to groups. We have a comprehensive policy to ensure that they can come to the theater.
What makes the difference theater courses What do you offer compared to other training schools? Our theater courses are aimed at adults, children, young adults, and seniors. For children, we work with the philosophy of educating in and through the arts. Children and young adults are trained just like adults, acquiring all the necessary skills to embrace them with their own values, and learning to work in a community. We have a diverse group of children who have made television series and films.
For adults, it happens that they come in to try out and then stay for four years, training professionally.
What sets us apart from other schools is that we welcome older students from other professions who, for various reasons, were never able to do theater and now take it up as a second career. And it's a place where we build very powerful groups. Many of our students are now actors.
What can attendees expect from the September 9 briefings? I'm going to describe the entire course offering, how we work, and who the teaching team is. We have several premises: each professor is specialized in the course and currently active; all of us are working in the industry. We're all in the same boat. Our programs are based on the idea that theater is a craft, not a profession. Within a highly developed program, each professor provides their own unique technique, and this is what nurtures the students because they have a broad path forward that will allow them to establish themselves in the profession.
How are the "Adult Theater," "Youth Theater," and "Film" courses tailored to the needs of each group? Each course is tailored to and led by industry professionals. It's carefully thought out for what's being offered. All are highly professional courses, preparing students, whether young or old, with this very personal, very human perspective. We value others, caring for oneself and others, listening. Human values are very valuable to us, and this sets us apart from other schools.
What do you dream for the future of theater and L'Autèntica in the coming years? I dream that there will be more of us, that we will be able to reflect, that theater is a pending subject for everyone. That when theater is taught in schools, it will truly be done from a place of awareness, from an understanding of what theatrical practice is.
A subject that has to be understood as a human and social possibility because in the theater, one begins to recognize one's own expressive registers marked by childhood and environment, and to be able to open them up. This then gives you a background, a social understanding that you didn't have before, and it also prepares you professionally for a dream world. Theater is good for the mind and the body.
L'Autèntica isn't just a theater in Barcelona's Gracia neighborhood: it's a constant heartbeat in Barcelona's cultural fabric. Under the direction of Verónica Pallini, it has become a creative refuge, a space for poetic resistance, and a school of humanity. Because when art is experienced authentically, there's no stage that can't become home.
