Formentera, more theatre and more dance

L'Illa a Escena, the Formentera Council culture department's autumn music and performing arts programme, is back. There is something for everybody on the cultural catalogue scheduled to hit the Formentera cinema, plus, artists from across the creative spectrum, peddling theatrics, dance and children's shows.

September
As September comes to a close, the acclaimed theatre group es Cubells will be teeing up their latest work, Operació Peix Frit, for island audiences. It is a comedy about some crafty government employees who hatch a scheme to dupe country folk who have won first prize in a Christmas lottery.

The show is on Saturday 30 September at 9.00pm in the cinema.

October
The month of October is youngsters' chance to see Akari, a contemporary dance show from celebrated troupe Date Danza. Light holds the starring role in this production, and two dancers show how adults are reflected in newborn babies as they grow.

The show starts Sunday 1 October at 6.00pm in the cinema.

Another October feature is Periferia Teatro's kids' puppet show, Vola Ploma. In this show about freedom and respect for our true nature as human beings, the lead gets the chance to realise her dream. The audience, for its part, gets to join her in flight.

The show opens Saturday 28 October at 5.30pm in the cinema. Akari and Vola Ploma are part of the Spanish cultural ministry's programme Platea to promote partnerships between professional dance, theatre and circus groups, enrich the performing arts and act as a source of culture.

November
Hilos comes to town in November. Crowned with the 2011 National Award for Children's Performing Arts and five-time winner of the European Children's Performing Arts Fair, Rosa Díaz weaves a tale of love between a mother and her newborn, of the passage of time and of the ties that bind us to life. Hilos is part of the Ministry of Culture's Platea programme.

Hilos is scheduled to open Saturday 11 November at 9.00pm in the cinema.

This year, Formentera celebrates International Children's Day with a show for the whole family that is loaded with physical theatre, puppets and music. Codi Postal 00 traces the letters and parcels whose humdrum qualities metamorphose into something tender-hearted. It is part of Sa Xerxa and Platea's programme of family-friendly productions, now in its eleventh year.

Codi Postal 00 is presented by Engruna Teatre and opens Saturday 25 November at 6.00pm in the cinema.

December
Produccions de Ferro's Peccatum is part of TalentIB, an initiative of Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics. With Toni Gomila taking on joint duties as writer and actor, the show settles into la Mola's Casa del Poble on 10 December.

The show is a pastiche of our most popular folk tales, culled and served up with ribald aplomb by Mossèn Alcover. Gomila and Catalina Florit employ some of popular culture's most common orally-transmissible vices, sins, vulgarities and smut in interpreting the piece.

This adults-only show begins its two-day run at la Mola's Casa del Poble on Thursday 30 November at 8.30pm.

For younger crowds, Produccions de Ferro also presents Viatge a la font de xocolata. This show, whose title signifies “Journey to the chocolate fountain,” combines acting, puppets, masks and other visual devices to tell a universal tale of affirming, optimistic and constructive learning that is also packed with emotion.

The show comes to the cinema on 28 December at 5.30pm.

Promoting culture
L'Illa a Escena gets support from Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics' TalentIB and Platea, a Ministry of Culture programme to foment culture.