Lluís Homar stars in “Terra Baixa”, in the Teatre Borràs

Terra Baixa, in English Marta of the Lowlands, published by poet and playwright Àngel Guimerà in 1897, is one of the most often translated and performed works in Catalan literature. The three-act play, first performed in 1896, tells the story of Sebastià, Marta and Manelic, a love triangle who face light and darkness, purity and corruption through the use of the Highland-Lowland metaphor.

Sebastià, a Lowland land owner, and Marta, a somewhat helpless young girl, are involved in a supposedly clandestine relationship. In order to pay his debts, Sebastià is obliged to marry a “pubilla” (prospective heiress) of a respected family, but nobody will have him as a husband as everyone knows of his relationship with Marta. To put an end to all suspicion, Sebastià forces her into an arranged marriage with a “foreigner”, who is none other than Manelic, a chaste and humble shepherd from the Highlands. The marriage of convenience, however, will force the two men into a dramatic denouement.

The adaptation of the piece, which is directed by Pau Miró and includes a number of new songs by Sílvia Pérez Cruz, stars just one actor, Lluís Homar, who played Manelic with an amateur theatre group from Horta when he was just 16 years old, the result being that he has always had strong ties with the piece in question and, as he himself explains, on this occasion “...wanted to be the whole play”.

Terra Baixa can be seen from the 13th of November to the 11th of January in the Teatre Borràs. Prices range from 20 to 28 € and more information is available here.