Between May 5 and 7, Vila Nova de Famalicão is mobilized to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth with a series of initiatives involving about a hundred students and teachers from three Famalicão school groups - D. Sancho I, Padre Benjamim Salgado and Gondifelos -, as well as from ACE Escola de Artes de Famalicão. Besides the staging of Molière’s plays that will be presented at Casa das Artes de Famalicão and at Narciso Ferreira Theatre, the presence of the French actor Eric Génovèse, from the Comédie Française, who will give a masterclass and perform a staged reading, on Saturday night, before the award ceremony of the Theatre Festival, stands out.
The commemorations about the French playwright's anniversary will start on May 5 and 6, at 9.30 p.m., at Casa das Artes, with the premiere of "Scapin's Tricks", in a co-production of ACE Famalicão and Casa das Artes de Famalicão. On the afternoon of May 7, the students of the Theatre Course of ACE Famalicão will have a masterclass with Eric Génovèse, actor of the Comédie Française, at Casa das Artes.
On May 7, from 16h00, at the Narciso Ferreira Theatre, in Riba de Ave, students from the 3rd cycle of the Padre Benjamim Salgado, D. Sancho I and Gondifícia Schools will have a masterclass with Eric Génovèse, actor from the Comédie Française, at Casa de Artes. Sancho I and Gondifelos Schools will participate in the School Theatre Festival, presenting on stage Molière's plays, in French, which they prepared with their teachers, among them "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme", "L'Ecole des Femmes ou L'Oiseau en Cage" and "Les Femmes Savantes ou Debout les Carottes".
It is worth mentioning that this school project started its preparation in September 2021 with the realisation of a training addressed to French teachers and given by the trainer Jan Nowak ("Drameducation - 10 sur 10 device"). The objective was to prepare the French teachers for the planning of the teaching content and the staging, with their 3rd cycle students, of one of Molière's plays, in French. Before performing at the festival, the students had the opportunity to present their work to their respective school community, in a moment held at their school.
The closing of the initiative will take place on Saturday night, at 21h30, at Casa das Artes de Famalicão, with a staged reading by Eric Génovèse, who will read excerpts from the play "Le Tartuffe" (The Imposter) by Molière, followed by the protocol moment of delivery of prizes to the winner and participants of the School Theatre Competition, which will have the presence of the diplomatic representation of France, partners involved in the commemorations and the Mayor of the City Hall.
The commemorations of the 400 years of Molière's birth in Portugal are an initiative that involves the City Hall of Vila Nova de Famalicão, the French Institute of Portugal/Embassy of France in Portugal, the Alliance Française of Guimarães-Braga, E. Leclerc Famalicão (Culturissimo France), ACE Famalicão - Arts School, APPF - Portuguese Association of French Teachers, "Drameducation - device 10 sur 10", the Group of Schools D. Sancho I, the Group of Schools Padre Benjamim Salgado and the Group of Schools of Gondifelos.
