La Fura dels Baus received a commission to create the central moment for the inaugural ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Mediterranean, Olympic Sea was the title of this large-scale production. It told the story of Jason and the Argonauts’ voyage to the end of the Mediterranean Sea, to the columns of Hercules which, according to classical mythology was the gate to the unknown world. In the course of the voyage, represented in the Olympic Stadium, the Argonauts confront, in the best classic tradition, the furies that symbolise war, pollution, hunger and disease, The early sailors furies have modern day equivalents. The performance culminates when Hercules, after crossing the premises, separated the columns and let the sea, made up of hundreds of people, flow in and inundate the unknown, a direct metaphor for the meeting of cultures, races and peoples.

Mediterranean, Olympic Sea marked a departure from the tradition that had previous defined the opening performances of the Olympic Games, which were merely moving around large groups of people, coloristic but lacking content, pretty to look at but not conceptually risky. La Fura dels Baus’ stamp was for the first time put on a performance conceived especially to be watched live by millions of people all over the world. The international response was enthusiastic and highlighted the fact that Mediterranean, Olympic Sea had successfully communicated an ideology linked to the origins of the Olympic host city’s culture through a risky and innovating staging. With this large scale performance,

La Fura dels Baus’ work surpassed the sphere of small theatre audiences, transcending it exponentially and achieving massive reception and repercussion.

Creación y direción
Àlex Ollé, Carlos Padrissa
(La Fura dels Baus).

Dirección ceremonias
Manuel Huerga

Producción ceremonias
Pepo Sol

Música
Ryuichi Sakamoto

Vestuario sol y mar
Peter Minshall

Realización escenografía
Roland Olbeter

Coreografía sol y mar
Judy Chabola

Vestuario marineros
Chu Uroz

Efectos de sonido
Miki Espuma (La Fura dels Baus).

Dirección actores barco
«Hansel» Cereza (La Fura dels Baus).

Asistente de dirección
José Manuel Pinillo.

Diseño atrezzo
Nico Nubiola

Diseño «Trencadissa»
Antoni Miralda

Diseño básico del vestuario
Luis Fortes

Artista gráfico
Paco Corachán

Consultor mitológico
Josep Olives

Actores barco protagonistas
Susana Goulart, Wilson Silva.

Actores barco
Daniel Andreu, Luis M. Ballesteros, Paul Berrendo, Alexander Brendemhi, «Hansel» Cereza, Salvador Chaves, Manuel del Estal, David Escudero, Miguel Folch, Víctor Goñi, Juan Guasch, Lisbeth Hall, Manuel Llama, Carlos Molina, Juan M. Morillo, Joaquim Pañart, José C. Paredes, José Perez, José A. Porcar, Fernando Ribot, Francisco Ruiz, Fernando Ruiz, Miguel Salvador, Juan C. Soler, Francisco Javier Tapias.

Construcción escenografía
Carrocerías Esteva, Simeó Ubach.

Hinchables
Al Víctor

Director de producción
Salvador Pons, Cuqui Pons.

Estreno
25/7/92, en el Estadio Olímpico de Barcelona.

Representaciones
1

Un espectáculo producido por Ovideo Bassat Sport para el Comité Olímpico Organizador de los Juegos Olímpicos de Barcelona, 1992.

Millions of people, on all five continents, watched live what was considered one the best inaugural ceremonies in the history of the Olympic Games: with the instantly recognizable stamp of La Fura dels Baus.