At 2.00 pm today Bartomeu Escandell, councillor of the CiF president's office, together with local lifeguard service chief Javier Asensio and service coordinator Sergi Martín attended a presentation by the emergency services of the Govern Balear concerning beach safety. Presided over by the Govern's director of emergency services Joan Pol Pujol, the presentation was hosted at the Formentera Council and was the eighteenth such gathering to date. The yearly pre-summer gathering aimed at educating staff and department heads on the evolving nature of water safety services was also attended by Vicente Soria, director of 112 emergency services, and Vicent Ferrer, officer of Eivissa emergency services.

The Govern officials spoke about the proper classification of swimming areas and of the requirement that medium- and high-risk beaches have a transmitter system in place. Similar systems must also be used at low-risk beaches with on-duty lifeguards and at beaches where there exist “multiple and conflicting uses” that could pose a threat. It was also reported that such transmitter systems are required at beaches and swimming areas where both watercraft and swimmers are present.

As for the hours of lifeguard services, timetables must be adapted to the area in question, the meteorological conditions at play and use patterns at each beach.

Further, on beaches with lifeguard services, summertime seaside concessionaires must also employ staff trained in lifesaving in the event that lifeguards require additional assistance during normal service hours.

Likewise, if a concession's hours of operation extend beyond the range of normal lifeguard service, staff of the waterfront concession are responsible for providing first-aid to beach users until emergency services arrive.

Among other topics discussed by officials were procedural improvements made regarding communication between the Govern's waterfront planning services and 112 emergency services.

This Saturday at nine pm in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema) the Office of Culture of the Formentera Council will host Blai Bonet's Parasceve, the author's only production written for the stage. Included on the events calendar for the Sant Jordi holiday, the evening of theatre is also part of the programme Illa a Escena.

Playwright

Though poet, storyteller and Mallorca-native Blai Bonet (Santanyí, 1926-1997) is celebrated for the universality of his reach, in his lifetime he would only produce one work of theatre: Parasceve. The play is a portrait of the people, families and whole societies held prisoner by war. Bonet focuses on his characters as individuals rather than political figures to convey the familiar quality of this emotional tale.

Production

Based on the story of the Skiud household, Parasceve stands as a psychological family-portrait in a time of war. Faced with a tale that is so intensely personal, those in the audience are hard-pressed to remain safe sideline spectators. The message, then, becomes timeless and one that is unbounded by time. Before the transversal commonality of war, any other barriers fade into the periphery. Faithfully representing the playwright's original text, the company guides the audience through the cleansing process that must accompany any tragedy. Hence, the theatre and stage are transformed into ritual ground.

The current production of Parasceve is an unmissable opportunity to see Blai Bonet recoup human form. What T-SHOCK manages to convey scenographically with Parasceve is the savageness inherent in the choices we make; a representation of nothing less than devastation itself. Though purely symbolic, the universe created becomes a scene of conflict for truly dark forces.

Brought to the stage by the T-SHOCK company, Parasceve is directed by Jeroni G.Obrador and includes acting by Marta Barceló, Guillem Juaneda (from the film El perfecto desconocido) and David Pérez. Parasceve is involved in Circuit Talent IB, a talent circuit for music and stage productions that is promoted by the IEB and the Balearic Islands Regional Ministry of Culture. Circuit Talent IB is aimed at promoting cultural exchange between Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera. It has already brought to the island Fràgil (from Eivissa group Clownidoscopio) and is behind performances this month from Mallorca theatre group Circ Bové (Es Cirquet) and Menorca singer-songwriter Leonmanso.