An Interview With the Local Playwright Premiering at Teatre El Jardí
When the lights rise at Teatre El Jardí, a new play by Figueres writer Laia Ferrer will move from the private world of drafts and rehearsals into a shared experience with the audience. The Map of Small Things explores memory, family, and the quiet decisions that reshape a life, combining intimate drama with flashes of humour and live music.
Ferrer has written for local companies, worked with performers through ATEB, and developed her voice within the cultural life of the city. Her first full-length production at Teatre El Jardí brings together professional artists and emerging talent, creating a performance that feels rooted in Figueres while speaking to broader questions about belonging.
Ahead of the premiere, she spoke about transforming observation into theatre, collaborating with a creative team, and discovering what a script becomes when actors, technicians, and spectators give it their energy.
Finding A Story In Familiar Places
What inspired The Map of Small Things?
The first image came from a real place: a kitchen table covered with keys, receipts, photographs, and objects nobody wanted to throw away. I started wondering what those things could reveal about the people who had touched them. The play grew from that question, but it became less about objects and more about the stories families carry without always discussing them.
The action follows two sisters who return to their childhood home after many years apart. They are very different, yet they recognise the same streets, sounds, and habits. Figueres is present in the atmosphere rather than through constant references. I wanted the city to feel like a living memory, something the characters carry even when they are trying to escape it.
Did writing locally affect the way you approached the script?
Very much. Writing in a city where you know the audience creates a special responsibility. You understand the rhythms of local speech and the details people may recognise, but you also have to avoid treating familiarity as a substitute for a strong story. The play needed emotional truth first. The local texture came through naturally in the pauses, the humour, and the way the characters move through their neighbourhood.
From First Draft To First Rehearsal
Ferrer describes the original script as “much louder and more complicated” than the version reaching the stage. Early drafts included several locations and a larger cast, but workshop readings exposed the strength of the central relationship. The creative team gradually reduced the material, allowing silence and small gestures to carry more weight.
“Theatre teaches you to listen to what is missing,” she says. “A line can explain something, but an actor looking away may reveal much more. During rehearsals, I learned to protect the moments that felt alive rather than insisting on every sentence I had written.”
The production is directed by Marc Vidal, with a cast led by Júlia Prat and Nil Costa. Original music appears throughout the performance, while a flexible set changes from a domestic interior into a train platform, a school corridor, and a public square. These transitions reflect the way memory slips between specific places and emotional states.
A Venue Built For Shared Experiences
Premiering at Teatre El Jardí gives the production a meaningful connection to Figueres. The venue’s scale allows the audience to see expressions and physical details clearly, while its history as a gathering place adds a sense of continuity. For Ferrer, that relationship between room and performance is central to the theatre-making process.
“A play is never complete when the playwright finishes the manuscript,” she explains. “It becomes complete through the bodies in the room. Teatre El Jardí has an atmosphere that encourages attention. You feel that people have come together deliberately, and that changes the way a story lands.”
The venue network also supports the less visible stages of production, from rehearsals and technical preparation to conversations with artists and community groups. Anyone curious about the practical work behind a performance can read this venue manager diary, which shows how many different roles contribute to a single evening on stage.
| Element | What Audiences Can Expect |
|---|---|
| Production | The Map of Small Things |
| Format | Contemporary drama with live music |
| Location | Teatre El Jardí, Figueres |
| Main themes | Family, memory, home, and reconciliation |
| Creative approach | Intimate acting, adaptable set, and sound-led transitions |
| Audience | Young people and adults |
The Balance Between Local And Universal
The characters in The Map of Small Things speak with the particularity of people who know each other too well. Their arguments contain old references, unfinished conversations, and jokes that only make sense within the family. Yet the emotional questions are widely recognisable: What do we owe the places that shaped us? Can people return home without returning to their former selves?
Ferrer believes regional theatre can be both deeply specific and widely accessible. “A local story does not need to explain every detail,” she says. “If the emotions are precise, audiences can enter through their own experience. A street, a song, or a family custom may belong to Figueres, but the feeling of being unable to say what matters belongs to everyone.”
That balance is also reflected in the production’s language. The dialogue retains natural expressions and conversational rhythms, while the staging uses gesture, music, and visual storytelling to support every spectator. The result is a play that welcomes audiences familiar with the city and those encountering its cultural life for the first time.
Learning Through Collaboration
Ferrer’s relationship with ATEB, the theatre school connected with Figueres a Escena, has influenced her ideas about making theatre accessible. Working with children, teenagers, and adult learners reminded her that performance begins with curiosity rather than expertise. A question asked in a workshop can sometimes unlock a more interesting dramatic possibility than a carefully planned writing exercise.
“Students are wonderfully direct,” she says. “They respond immediately when something feels false. That has helped me become less defensive about my work. A script should be strong enough to change during rehearsal and open enough to receive another person’s imagination.”
The production team has also invited local students to attend a rehearsal discussion before the premiere. They will hear from the playwright, director, and performers about character development, stage design, and the process of adapting a written scene for live performance. These encounters extend the show beyond its scheduled performances and reinforce the role of the theatre as a place for learning and participation.
What The Audience Takes Home
What do you hope people feel when the curtain falls?
I hope they leave with a sense that ordinary conversations can contain enormous meaning. The characters are not heroes in a traditional sense. They are people trying to understand what happened between them and whether it is possible to begin again. If someone recognises a family member, an old disagreement, or a part of themselves, the play has done its work.
I also hope the audience enjoys the experience. There is tenderness in the story, but there is plenty of humour too. People sometimes imagine a play about memory must be solemn. In reality, families are chaotic, funny, irritating, generous, and surprising, often in the same minute.
What has the premiere taught you about being a playwright?
That writing is a form of attention. You have to look carefully at people, places, and the things they do when they think nobody is watching. But theatre is also a collective art. Once the rehearsal process begins, the play belongs to a larger group, and that is not a loss of control. It is the reason the work can become richer than the first idea.
Ways To Make The Most Of The Evening
- Arrive early enough to settle in and take in the atmosphere of Teatre El Jardí before the performance begins.
- Read the programme notes for background on the creative team and the themes behind the production.
- Stay for any scheduled post-show conversation or audience exchange with the artists.
- Consider attending with someone from a different generation, since the play explores how memories change across family lines.
- Check the latest performance details and tickets before setting out.
The premiere offers more than a first presentation of a new script. It is an opportunity to see how a Figueres story becomes a shared artistic event through actors, musicians, technicians, educators, and spectators. Reserve your place at Teatre El Jardí and be among the first audiences to discover The Map of Small Things as it takes its first steps beyond the rehearsal room.