The Teatre Akadèmia, a landmark cultural initiative launched in 2007 by Elsa Peretti, has been at the forefront of Barcelona’s theatrical scene since it opened. Supported since 2015 by the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation - Delegació a Catalunya (NaEPF), this project was Elsa Peretti’s dream realised: a haven in Barcelona for artists to freely express themselves as “artisans of art” while reflecting societal shifts.

For the second consecutive season, during 2023-2024, Teatre Akadèmia achieved the best results in its history, reaching record occupancy levels and a remarkable growth in audience numbers. Looking ahead, the theatre seeks to strengthen its role as a cultural reference point in Barcelona and Catalonia, while attracting both emerging generations of performing arts professionals and younger audiences. Its ambition is to shape an avant-garde, multidisciplinary, and international theatre, and to serve as a driving force that connects new creators with established companies in search of a stage that fosters complicity with the public.

The three-year project for the artistic direction of Teatre Akadèmia, entitled “Reaching the Person” (2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28) inaugurates a new chapter for the theatre, one deeply inspired by legacy of its founder and patron, Elsa Peretti. Guided by her vision and example, Teatre Akadèmia aims to be a place of reflection, research, debate, and exchange among artists, intellectuals, and diverse audiences. Under the artistic direction of Fernando Solla, Guido Torlonia, and Enrico Ianniello, with Meri Notario as Managing Director, the project embodies Elsa Peretti’s capacity to engage actively and innovatively in human transformation through her cultural and philanthropic work. In homage to this legacy, one of the programme’s principal axes is “Elsa Peretti Days: Design & Philanthropy.” This line of programming extends and reinforces the path inaugurated in the 2024/25 season through the “Women and Poetry” cycle, which featured contributions by Serena Vergano and Mariangela Gualtieri, alongside NaEPF’s long-standing partners Diàlegs de Dona, the Aura Foundation, and Aste Barcelona.