Belbel Rescues a Forgotten Guimerà

The article examines Sergi Belbel's 2006 production of En Polvora (1893), one of Angel Guimera's lesser-known plays. Set in a small textile town in inland Catalonia, En Polvora deals with the industrial conflict between the factory workers and their foreman but, more significantly, the passions and sexuality of the main protagonists. Despite the historical glosses added by Belbel to the original text, he is more interested in the dramatic than the sociopolitical content of the play. A detailed analysis of what was a spectacular production, in particular its visual and sonorous effects, is followed by a consideration of the generally negative critical reaction to it, which closely parallels the response to the 1893 premiere.