Àlex Ollé

Àlex Ollé

Àlex Ollé (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈaɫəks uˈʎe]) (born 1960) is one of the 6 artistic directors of La Fura dels Baus, the Spanish Catalan theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona and known for their use of unusual settings and a blurring of the boundaries separating audience and actor.

Early period

From his early period, there were the shows “Accions” (1983), “Suz o Suz” (1985), “Tier Mon” (1988), “Noun” (1990) and “M:T:M” (1994) that established La Fura dels Baus as a cult group for the audience and the press.

1992 Olympic Games

In collaboration with Carlus Padrissa, Ollé created, developed and directed “Mediterrani, mar olímpic”, the highlight on the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 1992. After this project, he has collaborated in different projects related to theatre, opera and cinema productions:

Theatre

Àlex Ollé has directed four theatre shows: “Faust 3.0” (1998), inspired on Goethe’s work, “XXX” (2004) based on the “Philosophy in the boudoir” by Marquis de Sade (both in collaboration with Carlus Padrissa). More recently, and on its own, “Metamorfosis” –in collaboration with Javier Daulte- based on the novel of Franz Kafka, and “Boris Godunov” –in collaboration with David Plana- a performance inspired by the assault on the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow and the work of Alexander Pushkin. With Miquel Gorriz, Ollé directed the Samuel Beckett play “First Love” as part of the Festival Grec of Barcelona.

Movie

Àlex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa and Isidro Ortiz co-directed the movie Fausto 5.0, which won (with others) the best European fiction move award “Melies de Oro” in 2003.

Opera

The early operatic works of Àlex Ollé in collaboration with Carlus Padrissa were “Atlantida”, by Manuel de Falla and “The Martyr of Sant Sebastián” by Claude Debussy. “The Damnation of Faust” by Hector Berlioz was premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1999. “DQ, Don Quijote en Barcelona”, with music from José Luis Turina and libretto from Justo Navarro, a production of the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona

Mozart’s “Magic Flute” was presented in the Rühr Biennial in co-production with the Opera de Paris and the Teatro Real in Madrid. Béla Bartók's “Bluebeard Castle” and Leoš Janáček’s “Journal d’un Disparu” were co-produced by Opera Garnier de Paris and Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona.

In collaboration with Valentina Carrasco, he directed György Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre”, which premiered at the theatre of La Monnaie in Brussels in coproduction with Gran Teatro del Liceo, the English National Opera and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. The opera was chosen for the opening of the 50th Festival of the Arts of Adelaide, Australia.

Thematic Show

His last project has been the co-direction of the thematic show “Window of the City” for the Universal Exhibition in Shanghai in 2010.

Sources

• Centro Dramático Nacional, Boris Godunov, La Fura dels Baus, 2008 p. 6
• Crusells Valeta, Magí, "Ollé, Àlex", Directores de cine en Cataluña: de la A a la Z, Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 2009, p. 185. ISBN 84-475-3316-6,
• Dessau, Bruce, "La Fura Dels Baus bring their eye-popping take on Ligeti to London", The Times, September 5, 2009