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A touring troupe arrives in a bleak industrial town, disrupting its quiet routine and setting off an unexpected encounter between Joan, the mayor’s son, and Zaira, a singer from the troupe. Adapted from a Catalan modernist theatre classic, L’ALEGRIA QUE PASSA combines electronic music, live performance, street dance, acrobatics, and physical theatre in a visually driven musical production from Barcelona’s legendary theatre company Dagoll Dagom.
The arrival of a touring troupe of artists unsettles a gloomy industrial town. Joan, the mayor’s son, meets Zaira, a singer from the troupe, and through her begins to imagine a life beyond the world he has always known. As desire and reality collide, long-buried dreams begin to surface beneath the town’s seemingly calm exterior.
Created as the 50th anniversary farewell production of Spain’s legendary theatre company Dagoll Dagom, L’ALEGRIA QUE PASSA is adapted from a classic Catalan modernist one-act play by Santiago Rusiñol.
Since premiering in 2023, the production has become a major success in Barcelona, completing 167 performances and winning multiple Spanish theatre awards. The Shanghai run also marks the first Catalan-language musical presented at Shanghai Culture Square.
The production combines electronic music with live instrumentation, alongside choreography that blends street dance, acrobatics, and physical theatre. Director Marc Rosich described the work as “a poetic tableau” dedicated to the desires that “ignite and burn within us.”
Media responses to the production have included:
“All infused with a powerful contemporary spirit.” — El Periódico
“A musical that captivates from the very first moment.” — Teatre Barcelona
For audiences in Shanghai, this production offers a rare chance to experience a contemporary Catalan-language musical that has become a standout theatrical success in Barcelona. Rather than relying on traditional musical theatre staging, L’ALEGRIA QUE PASSA mixes electronic music, physical theatre, dance, and live performance into a visually driven production centered around themes of longing, escape, and desire.
It also marks the farewell production celebrating 50 years of Dagoll Dagom, making it a significant work in the company’s history as well as a notable international theatre production arriving in Shanghai.
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