VENUE
The Goya Theatre, which was founded in 1914, first started its theatrical activity in 1916 and was later converted into an important theatre in the city of Barcelona. In addition to being used as the headquarters of the Aragonese Centre, the theatre has staged productions in which many famous names in the drama sector, such as Margarita Xirgu, have taken part.
During recent years, many successful plays have been staged at the Goya in Barcelona, including performances by Paco Moran, the Gutiérrez Caba sisters, Núria Espert, Maria Jesús Valdés, Ángels Gonyalons, Pepe Rubianes and many other great professionals.
In 2004, the theatre was forced to close and was on the verge of ceasing its activities, but the Focus Group took charge of bringing it back to life in order to prevent the loss of one of the most emblematic artistic and drama centres in the city.
The reform work executed in the Goya Theatre, which will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2016, is based on building a new theatre within an existing frame. The theatre has a capacity for 520 people, including both the tiered stalls and the amphitheatre. The remodelling project has a cost of 3.7 million euros, of which 2.2 million euros have been put up by the local authorities, through the Barcelona Theatre Rehabilitation Consortium, whose members include Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council and the Ministry of Culture. The Deputation of Barcelona and Regional Government of Aragón have also collaborated in the project.
As a consequence of the process of renovating the Theatre, Ecler a major Spanish based electronics manufacturer and distributor, were awarded the contract to install the new sound system. The Spanish firm decided on a combination of Ecler DPA series amplifiers and speaker systems made by the Australian company Acoustic Technologies, a brand that is distributed by Ecler throughout Europe on an exclusive basis.
In the Goya Theatre, Ecler has used a sound system that fully satisfies all the needs of a modern theatre, one that offers excellent coverage, with high quality speaker systems, that are compact, discreet and easily camouflaged.
The AT Professional speaker systems are characterised by their constant directivity and high intelligibility, and are therefore perfect for this type of application, providing extraordinary coverage of the whole audience area. In addition, the project includes the latest version of the AT Blackbird Sound Level Prediction software, which makes it possible to achieve precise modelling of the configuration and the Blackbird TLA Line Array sound system’s performance.
Friday 3 October, the President of Generalitat de Catalunya, José Montilla, re-inaugurated the Goya Theatre, which opened its doors again four years after closing, following a process of thorough rehabilitation and adaptation to the demands of this new century by the Focus Group. The event was attended by many celebrities from Catalan society and many well-known faces from the theatre.Josep Maria Pou, responsible for the theatre’s artistic management, staged the opening performance of The History Boys by Alan Bennet. Not only did he direct the play, but he also played a leading role. The new Goya Theatre bases its programme on an open, balanced repertoire, with particular emphasis on its own productions and collaboration between artists, companies and public and private institutions.
Under the artistic management of Josep Maria Pou, mostly works by famous 20th-century authors are produced and staged, together with modern plays, with the collaboration of famous Catalan, Spanish and international artists.
Client: Teatre Goya
C/ Joaquin Costa, 68
08001 Barcelona, Spain
