Running until 27 March, the second week of the eighth edition of the ‘Poética da Palavra’ theatre festival centred on a discussion of dramaturgy and featured two performances that displayed the full creative potential of the art form in a vibrant, resonant and captivating production.
The performance “Agora Noutro Lugar” sold out the Small Auditorium on Friday. The audience had the opportunity to watch a play with text by Marine Antunes, directed by Marco Medeiros and performed by Tiago Castro, in which a man enters a cemetery to ask his dead wife for a divorce. With writing that balances drama and biting humour, this play explores the invisible effects of grief, the difficult reconstruction of identity after years of shared life, and a love that refuses to die. The tension between memory and the need to move on is the central thread of this inner journey.
At the end of the performance, as is the case with all those presented in the Poética da Palavra cycle, a discussion with the audience took place and no one moved from their seats. The conversation unfolded in a light-hearted manner, with the playwright and the actor discussing the rehearsal process, dramaturgical choices and the construction of the final script. The director of Casa das Artes moderated the session.
On Saturday, the Grand Auditorium hosted the show, written and directed by Tiago Mateus: “Fantasia Sem Abrigo – a comic-musical trilogy”. Throughout the performance, the audience burst into laughter at the plot twists of the scenes, which spanned different times and places. Music was a constant throughout the performance and served as the unifying element linking all the action across the various scenic contexts.
Afterwards, in the Foyer, the cast chatted with the audience and answered questions about the creative process behind the show and the reality of an artist’s daily life. These significant moments fostered an unusual closeness between the audience and the performers.
On the afternoon of Thursday 12th, the Café-Concerto hosted the first Poética da Palavra Round Table, on the subject of Dramaturgy, featuring contributions from director and playwright Luís Mestre (moderator) and playwright and dramaturg Raquel S. A lively discussion that brought together nearly 50 participants.
Upcoming events
The programme for the eighth instalment of the Poética da Palavra theatre meetings continues on Friday, 20 March, with the performance “Começar Tudo Outra Vez”, directed and performed by Raquel André and Tonan Quito. This is a performance designed to be more accessible, as it features audio description and interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language.
On Saturday and Sunday, 21 and 22 March, a premiere: “Tudo o que Ela Calava”, under the artistic direction of Ângela Marques and Fernando Moreira. This production stems from a desire to bring the poetry of the Portuguese-Belgian writer Bénédicte Houart to the stage. Her literary career focuses primarily on issues related to womanhood; her writing is deeply engaged with the realm of intimacy, challenging gender stereotypes and revealing the dilemmas and contradictions of the experience of being a woman.
Also on Friday, 20 March, at 3.00 pm, at the Café-Concerto, the second Poética da Palavra Round Table will take place, on the theme of Staging, featuring contributions from actress Maria Miguel Félix (moderating), actress and director Luísa Pinto, and actor and director Bruno Martins.
It should be noted that the special programme cycle “Poetics of the Word – Theatre Encounters” is guided by the principle of placing text, voice and the actor’s work at the heart of theatrical creation, with performances, discussions and mediation activities that explore different ways of expressing and inhabiting the word.
