Musical · Contemporary romantic comedy

73 raons per deixar-te

Mercè and Toni’s breakup opens a story about love, heartbreak and the value of second chances.

Teatre Goya, Barcelona · 2015/16 season

Seventy-three reasons to start again

The breakout musical of Barcelona’s 2015/16 season follows the hilarious breakup of Mercè and Toni. After three years in a relationship born from love at first sight, the couple realises they have no future together. Unconditional love has turned into hatred, virtues into flaws, and the reasons for leaving one another multiply until they reach 73. They hurl all those reasons at each other as soon as the curtain rises. From that moment on, they are forced to start a new life apart.

They will not be alone as they move forward: they have the support of their respective parents. Mercè’s father and Toni’s mother have disliked each other since the day they met, but their children’s separation will bring them closer and push their family relationship to the limit. Through these two older characters, we discover the young couple’s love story, from falling in love to breaking up, through living together, arguments and the everyday reality that romantic comedies never show. All four are forced to reflect on love, heartbreak, the passage of time and the value of second chances.

Guillem Clua has written a libretto that moves from light to darkness, from hilarious scenes to moments of intense drama. The music is by Jordi Cornudella. The aim was to create a thoroughly contemporary work, with references that audiences would immediately recognise. The protagonists meet during the police eviction of the Plaça Catalunya protest camp in the days after 15M in 2011, constantly refer to Barcelona, and, in one of the musical’s most celebrated moments, sing from one end of metro line 3 to the other, naming every stop along the way.

As we learn about Mercè and Toni’s three-year relationship, the audience is prompted to ask a series of questions. How do couples understand relationships today? How have they changed compared with previous generations? Do they last less time? If so, why? Can two radically different people learn to understand each other? Is there room for second chances despite the harm they may have caused one another? Is love destined to fade? Do all relationships have an expiry date? If so, what is the point of happiness if we always end up alone? 73 raons per deixar-te raises all these questions in a musical that makes us laugh and cry—and where the happy ending is not the one we expect from a romantic comedy.