Theatre Comes to La Mercè

One of the most in-demand actresses of the Catalan stage (and of film and television) gives the opening speech of Barcelona’s Festa Major.

If you have to choose a theatre production and she appears in the cast, the proposal instantly becomes highly attractive, because you’re fascinated by the quality of her performances and the versatility of her characters… Because Emma Vilarasau is today one of the greats of the Catalan stage, cinema, and television. This Mercè, you won’t see her playing a character but inviting you, in her own name, to enjoy the festival by delivering the opening speech of La Mercè.

Emma Vilarasau Tomàs was born in Sant Cugat, but has lived her life in Barcelona—especially since she studied acting at the Institut del Teatre of the Diputació de Barcelona. Later, she completed her training with seminars by John Strasberg and Carlos Gandolfo, and studied at Philippe Gaulier’s school in Paris in 1985.

Since 1992, she has starred in unforgettable theatre nights under the direction of greats (from Sergi Belbel, Fabià Puigserver and Lluís Pasqual to Andrés Lima, and also Josep Maria Mestres and Jordi Bosch), in plays such as The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Infanticide, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Boston Marriage, August: Osage County, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Barcelona, Happy Days, The Mother, Medea, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, The Swallow, All My Sons, and Lali Symon, among others.

She’s also become a familiar face in Catalan homes thanks to successful TV series like Secrets de família, Nissaga de poder, Majoria absoluta or Ventdelplà, and recently she’s entered Spanish-language productions, like the RTVE Playz series Ser o no ser.

There’s not much more to say about her cinema work, as we’ve recently seen her shine in Casa en Flames, but we still remember her in well-known films such as The Nameless, Para que no me olvides, and La fossa.

If you want to know more about La Mercè 2025, visit the Festa Major website: