Ricard Soler Mallol is a director, dramaturge and teacher born in Barcelona. He moved to Montreal to pursue a Master’s degree in Theatre and to develop his artistic career thanks to an Excellence Scholarship from La Caixa. He obtained his Master’s with distinction from the Université du Québec à Montréal. He also holds a degree in Directing and Dramaturgy from the Theatre Institute of Barcelona and in Mathematics and Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Ricard is a musician, having graduated from the Barcelona Conservatory of Music. He also studied lighting design at the Theatre Institute of Barcelona and technology for performing arts with the creators Jan Mech and Telenoika.
Founding member of the theatre company Obskené, he has created over fifteen shows that combine theatre, street arts, music and circus. He thinks of performing arts as ongoing interdisciplinary research and has received numerous grants to develop this idea (La Caixa, 2014; Catalan Government, 2015; Catalan Government, 2018). He believes that artistic creation is enriched through the displacement, adaptation, contrast, understanding, acceptance and difference that arise from bringing together creators of different backgrounds. An important part of his artistic process is focused on the audience’s role in the work itself.
Some of his most recent productions include: Cidades, a circus performance by graduates of the Rogelio Rivel Circus School (2018); Les clinck, a show for young audiences by the Les Bianchis theatre company (2018); Alpenstock, a farcical play on the extreme right created at the Tantaranta Theatre (2017); Nafrat, an experiential show about the refugee journey to Fira Tarrega (2017); Drapetomania, an eletronic music concert by Filastine & Nova (2017); Encontros, a performance by graduates of the Rogelio Rivel Circus School in Barcelona (2017); Manifesta, a large-scale street show written by Jean-Frédéric Messier that fuses circus, theatre and electronic music, presented at the Firatàrrega Festival and at the MAC Festival in Barcelona (2016) ; City of Glass, an adaptation of the work of Paul Auster which depicts the language of the comic strip, presented at the Barcelona Grec Festival (2016) ; Plácido Mo #Terrassa, an ambulatory documentary theatre project on homelessness, presented at the Festival TNT in Terrassa ; Oedipus Rex, an immersive and experiential show without actors and where the audience plays the main role (2015); Great raffle for a wonderful trip to Mexico, a piece created in collaboration with the Mexican Teatro Ojo Company on the Spanish Republican exile to Mexico following the fascist victory in Spain in 1939 ; Under the bed, a young-audience creation for the National Theatre of Catalonia that addresses the theme of fear (2014); Fuenteovejuna, breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas, a 360-degree staging of the Lope de Vega classic that won several awards, including the MAX award for Best Theatrical Adaptation and the prize for Best Show at the Almagro Festival (2013); as well as Moon’s Circus, an intimist show that received the 2010 INJUVE AWARD for Young Creation from the Spanish Ministry of Equality.
2018: Summer school in dramaturgy at Centre des auteurs dramatiques in Montreal.
2014-2017: Master’s degree in theater at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) with distinction: “Excellent”. (Receipient of a scholarship from La Caixa)
2012: Training in applied new technologies on stage with the creators Telenoika and Jan Mech. (Fabra i Coats and Hangar creative centers in Barcelona)
2007-2012: Baccalaureate and master's degree in drama, specialty in directing and dramaturgy, from the Barcelona Theater Institute (IT).
2000-2007: Higher engineering degree in telecommunications, from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), in Barcelona.
2007: Certificate of teaching aptitude, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
2000-2006: Baccalaureate and master's degree in mathematics, from UPC, in Barcelona.
2003-2005: Lighting studies, IT, in Terrassa.
1987-2002: Title of Professor of Music at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music.
2023: MAX Prize for best musical or lyrical performance for the opera La Gata perduda
2023: Serra d’Or Performing Arts Critic Prize for the opera La Gata perduda
2023: Prize for best opera proposal for La Gata perduda at the 6th edition of Premis Teatre Barcelona
2023: Extraordinary Prize II Edition of the Musical Theater Awards 2023
2023: Prize for “Best initiative or project contributing to the dissemination of operatic activity” of the 6th edition of the National Opera XXI Opera Awards
2022: Josep Anselm Clavé Prize from the Cant Chorale de Catalunya for best performance for La Gata perduda.
2022: Grant from the Barcelona Institute of Culture (Barcelona Crea) for the creation of the new opera Ali.
2021: Grant from the Catalan government for the writing of the libretto for the newly created opera Ali.
2020: Artist selected by the ENOA network in the New Opera Creation Journey program.
2018: Catalan Government grant for research and innovation in the performing arts: Research on creative methods, dramatic strategies and scenic devices for theatrical performances based on live connections and telepresence of actors and/or spectators.
2017: BBVA Awards for Best Actress (Lara Salvador) and Best Actor (Armand Villén) for the show Alpenstock by Rémi de Vos and directed by Ricard Soler.
2016: Barcelona Theatre Institute Adrià Gual Award for Best Director for City of Glass by Paul Auster.
2016: Best Show Award at the International Classical Theatre Festival of Mexico for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas (Mexican version).
2014-2016: La Caixa Bank Scholarship to study a master’s degree in Montreal that included tuition fees as well as a monthly income.
2015: Nomination for the MAX Award for Best New Show for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas.
2015: MAX Award for Best Theatrical Adaptation (Anna Maria Ricart) for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas.
2015: Catalan Government grant for research and innovation in the performing arts: City of Glass, transposing the language used in graphic novels to the realm of theatre.
2013: Best Show Award at the III Almagro Off Festival for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas.
2013 : Best Show Award at the Zaragoza Off Festival for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas.
2013 : Best Show Award at the Oropesa de Toledo International Theatre Festival for Fuenteovejuna. Breve tratado sobre las ovejas domésticas.
2010: INJUVE Award for Young Creation from the Spanish Minstry of Equality for Moon’s Circus.
2010: First Finalist of the La Jarra Azul Award for the theatrical text Más allá del Parque/ Al otro lado del parque.
2010: Nomination for Best Show at the 15th Barcelona Theatre Festival for the show Buenos Aires by Rafael Spregelburd.
2010: Best Actress Award for Costanza Aguirre at the 15th Barcelona Theatre Festival for the show Buenos Aires by Rafael Spregelburd.