Bàrbara Mestanza

Barcelona, 1990. She is an actress, singer, director, and playwright.
She studied musical theatre, directing, and playwriting at the Eòlia School, Sala Beckett, and text-based theatre at the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona. She began her career as an actress in theatre and television at the age of 12, and in 2013 she started her career as a director and playwright. Since then, her theatrical works have been staged at venues such as Teatre Lliure, Sala Beckett, Teatro Pavón, Las Naves del Español, and Teatro de la Abadía, among others, and she has toured extensively throughout Latin America and Europe.

She was the winner of the 2021 Catalan Playwriting Tournament and has received several nominations for the Teatre Barcelona Awards and the Butaca Awards as an actress, playwright, and director.

In 2023, she published her first novel, Sucia. She has also premiered the documentary Per què no vas fer res? (TV3, FILMIN, and Indiana Films), as well as a short film written and directed by her and starring María Hervás and Maria Rodríguez. She also wrote and starred in the feature film Duro, directed by Francesc Cuéllar.

Her most notable works as a playwright include La mujer más fea del mundo, POCAHONTAS o la verdadera historia de una traviesa, Todas las flores, Sucia, and Lacrimosa. The latter two were programmed at the Temporada Alta Festival. In Sucia, she fictionalizes the abuse she suffered during a theatrical production, in a work that has revolutionized the theatre scene; its creative process has also been transformed into a novel and an upcoming documentary. Lacrimosa consists of two monologues by Mestanza and Francesc Cuéllar, filled with self-irony, addressing failure and millennials.

Her work as a creator aims to shake the audience with cynicism and boldness, laying bare the most shameful aspects of our patriarchal system.