Theatre (debut of the play): The Elne Maternity hospital

Debut play "The Elne Maternity Hospital"

Premiere of the play "The Elne Maternity Hospital", by the Project Galilei company and in collaboration with the Democratic Memorial of Catalonia (27 September 2008).

The company Projecte Galilei, with the support of the Directorate General for Democratic Memory (Department of Home Affairs, Institutional Relations and Participation), La Jonquera Town Council and the Exile Memorial Museum, first showed the play "The Elne Maternity Hospital" in the MUME in La Jonquera. The play tells the story of refugee women in camps in southern France (Argelès, Rivesaltes, Saint-Cyprien...) after the Civil War who were offered shelter at the Elne  Maternity Hospital to give birth in good sanitary conditions. The premiere included the presence of the Director General of the Democratic Memorial, Maria Jesús Bono, the Mayor of La Jonquera, Jordi Llobet Cabezas, and the Mayor of Elne, Nicholas Garcia.

The show, dramatised by Pablo Ley and directed by Josep Galindo, is conceived as a story for adults that shows the life of the mothers of Elne from the time they left their country up to when they were housed at the Maternity Hospital for the birth and first months of life of the babies. It includes testimonies gathered by Assumpta Montellà in her book and Catalan and French songs from various authors and styles. The play features an actress-singer (Rosa Galindo) and a pianist (Luc Olivier Sanchez). The actress narrates the story playing different characters, and her monologue is interrupted by several musical impulses that provide a wide range of moods accompanying this journey through the history of the Elne Maternity Hospital.

After La Jonquera, the company began a tour through several cities. The play was a great success, with a full house on the premises of an improvised theatre in the MUME.