La tercera fuga

Show finished

Original Idea and Direction Victoria Szpunberg
Sala Gran
25/04/25 al 01/06/25

La tercera fuga

Can you start over again and again?

The Third Escape follows the path of a family over 100 years of history—a thrilling journey through three generations marked by multiple exiles. A monumental work that travels across three countries and three different decades: Ukraine, 1920; Buenos Aires, 1970; and Barcelona, 2020.

Victoria Szpunberg is one of the leading voices in contemporary Catalan playwriting and, with the collaboration of Albert Pijuan, makes her debut at the TNC’s Sala Gran with a fictional text inspired by her own family history.

A tribute to life, a reflection on identity, and a celebration of cultural mixing.

I've had this project in mind for a long time, but it wasn’t until my daughter asked me whether her surname was Ukrainian, Austro-Hungarian, or Argentinian that I began to shape this theatrical fable. Without intending to create a piece of autofiction, The Third Escape is based on a series of real-life events. Thanks to the collaboration with Albert Pijuan in the writing process, I was able to enjoy a healthy distance and allow imagination, play, and fabulation to transform the true story.

The Third Escape begins in Ukraine in the 1920s and moves forward to the present day, passing through Berdychiv, Buenos Aires, Barcelona… It’s the story of a family that cannot escape the tragedy of war and must flee in order to survive, leaving their entire world behind to start over again—learning new languages, adapting to foreign cultures… It’s a story of multiple exiles, a story about uprootedness, exposure, transience, and what endures.

But The Third Escape is also a grand celebration. We gather to celebrate that we are alive and that we still haven’t lost our desire to laugh.

Victoria Szpunberg

Original Idea and Direction
Victoria Szpunberg

With
Sasha Agranov, Emma Arquillué, Anna Castells, Marc Joy, Olga Onrubia, Carles Pedragosa, Carles Roig/Pau Escobar, Biel Rossell Pelfort, Fede Salgado, Magalí Sare, Clara Segura Crespo, Sergi Torrecilla, Ton Vieira

Collaboration on Scriptwriting
Albert Pijuan

Set Design
Max Glaenzel, Sílvia Delagneau

Costume Design
Sílvia Delagneau

Lighting Design
Pedro Yagüe

Choreography and Stage Movement Consulting
María Cabeza de Vaca

Music Composition and Musical Direction
Dani Espasa

Sound Design and Composition
Lucas Ariel Vallejos

Sound
Iker Rañé

Translation of the Tango Tornar
Magalí Sare

Video
Joan Rodón

Make-up and Hair
Àngels Salinas

Argentinian Accent Coach
Romina Cocca

Yiddish Translator and Consultant
Golda van der Meer

Assistant Director
Iban Beltran

Assistant Set Designer
Paula González Infante

Assistant Costume Designer
Marc Udina Duran

Interns from the Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona
Andrea Castells Fernández (Directing – ESAD)
Karen Carreño (Dramaturgy – MUET)
Clea Granados Nikolaidou (Set Design)

Set Construction
Carles Piera, Showtex

Costume Making
Goretti Puente

Horse and Skeletons Fabrication
Laura Garcia Martos

Mask Construction
Eudald Ferré Serra

Production
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya

Acknowledgements
Szpunberg Witt Family, Jorge Spunberg, Miquel Cabal Guarro, Arnau Pons, Juan Villareal, Leo Hipaucha Serenelli, Giacomo Passalacqua, Martina Vilarasau, Josefina Torino, Leila Amorós, Manel Fortià

TNC Technical and Management Team