Compromís calls for more Valencian shows and year-round programme at Roman Theatre
Compromís says it is not enough that only four shows at the Sagunt a Escena festival, 25% of the programme, are performed in Valencian, and is calling for more investment and year-round programming at Sagunto's Roman Theatre.
The coalition welcomes the return of Valencian-language shows to the Roman Theatre's programme this year, but says four productions, a quarter of the bill, are clearly not enough. Its council spokesperson, Maria Josep Picó, argues the festival has lost its international standing and become a plain "summer festival," far from the potential of the monument and the city.
Compromís (a Valencian nationalist party) is calling for a budget comparable to other major classical-theatre festivals, such as the one in Mérida, which began in 1933 with a staging of "Medea" and now receives direct funding from Spain's Ministry of Culture, as well as greater involvement from public administrations and private businesses.
The coalition recalls that the city's plenary session approved in February, with the PP and Vox abstaining and IP voting against, a motion urging the Conselleria of Education, Culture and Universities to plan year-round programming, with more Valencian-language shows coordinated with the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC, the Valencian government's public culture body). Picó now wants that pledge honoured, with input from the Council, cultural bodies and the hospitality sector.
According to El Periódico de Aquí, with additional background from Sagunto City Council and Wikipedia on the Mérida festival.