The European theatre project of the Universitat de València UV, Escena Erasmus UV, concluded this season at the month of July with its last production “Conquestes”, a reflection upon historical, social and intimate conquests from memories, recoveries and reconciliation, that thrilled an audience of more than 5000 people throughout more than 2000 kilometres.

The technical and acting team made this tour to bring the theatre to the stages of 13 municipalities of the Valencian Community from its premiere at La Nau Cultural Centre of the Universitat last 6 May until the last performance which took place at Macastre last 5 July to celebrate the Capitalitat Cultural Valenciana of this municipality. 

These dates are part of the proposal of the Universitat de València for European cooperation, youth importance, and cultural dynamisation of the Valencian municipalities through theatre and scenic arts, that turn the UV into the first academic institution with a high presence in the territory –with headquarter in 16 municipalities of 10 regions, besides the twenty seasonal universities– while its policy of internationalisation maintains the first of the Valencian universities as the first Spanish University in Erasmus students reception.

This way, the university is promoter of the Escena Erasmus UV, project, which combines the artistic creation with a cohabitation experience and exchange among European university students and the communities of our municipalities, creating reflection spaces and intercultural dialogue.

The human beauty that comes from grief

Escena Erasmus of the Universitat de València, Honour Award of the 2023 Valencian Scenic Arts. “Conquestes” delves into conquests that have made history and into those that continue to influence the present – the conquest of territories, bodies, identities, stories and power. 

From a critical, contemporary and European perspective, the work combines theatre, music, movement and collective creation to question who conquers, who is conquered, and which consequences this procedure has to people and communities. At the same time, the show gives visibility to other ways of conquest linked to rights, freedom, cohabitation, and to the construction of a more diverse, caring, and democratic Europe. 

Loyal to the spirit of Escena Easmus, “Conquestes” turns the stage into a meeting space between languages, cultures and experiences, and uses scenic arts as a tool to think about the world, to dialogue with territories and to imagine shared futures.

Directed by Josep Valero, the script has been written by Guadalupe Sáez, Aarón Sánchez, Patricia Michel Cabrera, Mariana Hartasánchez, Jacobo Pallarés, Emma Cases, Luz del Alba Cardillo and Maria Andrés. The dramaturgy was coordinated by Guadalupe Sáez. The work has been performed by a cast composed of eleven Erasmus and Valencian students: Guillem Borrego, Luz del Alba Cardillo, Emma Cases, Arina Firstova, Doucia López-Pueyo, Julia Moreno, Sergio Muñoz, Linda Revenko, Sofia Simonetto Pérez and Inés Sola.

“To embrace urgency”

Josep Valero, as director of the show, underlined that “the ‘Conquestes’ tour confirmed, once again, the capacity of Escena Erasmus to turn theatre into a meeting, reflection and dialogue space with the territory. Every performance has been different because every town, audience and context provides a new perspective to the show. For us, the tour is not only a succession of performances, but also a way of listening, sharing, and building community through scenic arts”. 

“Conquestes’ is a show that talks about power, stories that we inherit and the individual and collective fights that still continue to be open. This is made with the perspective of a European young group that put in scene their languages, experiences, and contradictions. As a result, there is a living, critic and deeply contemporary proposal, that appeals the audience and invites us to question which conquests do we need today and at what cost we want to achieve them”, says Valero. 

He also highlighted that “as a director, I am extremely proud of the commitment, generosity, and artistic maturity of the whole team. This tour continues proving that the university culture can leave its usual space, and get to very diverse municipalities to create shared experiences of great intensity. That is, probably, one of the most important conquests of the project: to get Europe closer to towns and to make towns part of the European story”.

What Escena Erasmus UV has made is to offer “a lot of questions but few answers –as usual– so that the audience itself can be the main character”, indicated the director.

The tours of the 2026 Escena Erasmus UV

“Conquestes” is a production of the Universitat de València with the management of the UV General Foundation and the support of the Institut Valencià de la Joventut (IVAJ) and the Cultural Area of the​​​​​​​ Diputació de València, leading to the following tours:

The 2026 Tour of the Cultural Area of the Diputació de València arrived to eight municipalities of the province in which a complete session was offered and culminated with a theatre show and an open colloquium with the audience. This format promotes citizens’ participation, critical spirit, and the value of culture as a tool of local development.

Concurrently, the 2026 Carnet Jove Tour of the IVAJ travelled to three municipalities of Castellon and Alicante with two performances each day – one for secondary school institutes and another one for the general audience. This programme supports values such as solidarity, tolerance, creativity, and peace, all of this by giving voice to a committed and active youth. This programme was affected this year by the educational strike convened at the end of the course and caused the cancellation of some matinee performances.

Moreover, the Universitat de València brings the show to Ontinyent and Gandia within the programme of UVSociety that allowed them to present the staging to the great theatres Echegaray and Serrano, respectively, with a sold out.

UV Escena Erasmus is, definitely, an opened window to Europe and an opportunity because the towns connect with a living, young and transformative culture.

17 years, more than 350 cities and 5 awards of recognised prestigious

Escena Erasmus is the European theatre project of the Universitat de València born in 2009. At Escena Erasmus, mainly Erasmus students and local students from the Universitat participate. The objective is to harness their creative potential during the year that they stay in València and to promote their participation in the cultural life of the territory.

The shows, that always talk about nowadays, are led by a professional team of Valencian scenic arts. In their 16 years of history, they have performed in more than 3350 cities, and in theatre festivals such as Almagro, Olite, Olmedo, Santander or Alcalá de Henares.

Escena Erasmus UV was awarded by the Premi Europeu Carlemany de la Joventut 2011 of the European Parliament, la Menció d’Honor 2018 of the “Promoció del Patrimoni en la Cultura I les Arts (Promotion of the Heritage in Culture and Arts)” award of the European League of Scenic Arts Companies PEARLE in Brussels, the AVETID award 2019 of the Valencian Association of Scenic Arts Companies to the best theatre project, the “Lluís Vives” distinction – 9 October 2021 Award of the Council from the Generalitat Valenciana and the 2023 Honour Award of Valencian Scenic Arts form the Culture Valencian Institute of the Generalitat Valenciana.