This is not just another theatre production. This is a work considered by Cervantes to be the best ever written, as seen by Calixto Bieito, an essential figure in Catalan contemporary theatre. The story of Tirant, a veritable jewel in the crown of Catalan and universal literature, is that of a hero bent on freeing Constantinople from the threat of the Turkish Empire. Underlying this knightly tale, however, is a lucid portrait of the medieval world, and it is this moral exploration that interests Bieito. Bringing to bear his habitual eloquence and poetic touch, the director depicts a society full of contradictions, obsessed with splendour and devoured by brutality and decadence. Tirant lo Blanc is an epic work featuring a dramatic interplay between innocence and cruelty, seduction and war, life and death.
This is a coproduction of Institut Ramon Llull, Teatre Romea, Schauspielfrankfurt, Hebbel am Ufer (Berlín) and Viladecans municipality.
Author: Joanot Martorell
Dramaturgy: Marc Rosich and Calixto Bieito
Director: Calixto Bieito
Music: Carles Santos
Set design: Alfons Flores
Lighting: Xavi Clot (AAI)
Costumes: Mercè Paloma

Performers:
Companyia Teatre Romea
TIRANT LO BLANC Joan Negrié
DIAFEBUS / Lluís Villanueva
DUC DE MACEDÒNIA / Mingo Ràfols
HIPÒLIT/ Nao Albet
SENYOR D'AGRAMUNT / Josep Ferrer
L'EMPERADOR / Carles Canut
CARMESINA / Beth Rodergas
PLAERDEMAVIDA / Roser Camí
LA VIUDA REPOSADA / Victòria Pagès
L'EMPERADRIU/ Begoña Alberdi
ESTEFANIA / Marta Domingo
FLOR DE CAVALLERIA / Belén Fabra
LA BELLA AGNÈS / Alina Furman
ELISEU, L'ORGANISTA CEGA / Alícia Ferrer

Calixto Bieito (1963) is the artistic director of the Teatre Romea in Barcelona and the Catalan stage director who is most widely known internationally.

A sense of dramatic spectacle and a fresh vision of the classics are the hallmarks of his productions. His most recent works with the Companyia Teatre Romea are Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, first performed in May 2006 at the International Festival in Bergen, and the adaptation of Michel Houllebecq's novel, Platform, which was first staged, and presented with an award, at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2006 and which is currently on international tour.

In Germany he has been responsible for the stage direction of the operas Don Giovanni (Hannover-2001), Il Trovatore (Hannover-2003), Manon (Frankfurt-2003), Die Entführung aus dem serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) (Berlín-2004), Macbeth (Frankfurt -2005), I pagliacci (Hannover-2005), Madam Butterfly (Berlín-2005) and Wozzeck (Hannover-2006). This year has seen the premieres of Jenufa in Stuttgart and Elektra in Freiburg.