The International Festival of Iberian Expression Theater (FITEI) starts this Wednesday, with a total of 19 shows in Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos and Viana do Castelo, and a theme marked by phantasmagoria.
TO The 47th edition of the event will run until May 26 and will take place on 14 different stages, with nine international shows and several national premieres on display.in a year in which the spectral side was added to the trauma and bravery featured in the thematic motif of 2023.
“From the beginning we had the idea of creating this binomial between the 2023 and 2024 editions. There is the trauma of the pandemic, the migratory crisis, the wars and the bravery of the artists, who put their body and their word. to better read reality, but also that of mothers who cross the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. Macro and micro stories of bravery,” summarized the artistic director of the festival, Gonçalo Amorim, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
Including phantasmagoria in this binomial allows “to add and densify the theme, also very focused on the way in which the artists have approached these situations.”
One of the new features this year is the return to Porto Coliseumon Saturday, with a creation by Teatro O Bando and the Olga Roriz Company, in collaboration with the Portuguese Symphonic Band, titled “Sister Palestine — 1001 Nights,” which “searches for the truths that are hidden in fictions and the illusions that cloud the reality “.
On Thursdays and Fridays the FITEI receives, Great Auditorium of the Municipal Theater of Rivoliin national premiere, the show “Stabat Mater”, by the Brazilian Janaína Leite, which was already part of the virtual programming of the 2021 edition, still marked by the covid-19 pandemic.
oh Campo Alegre Theater It also hosts one of the shows that mark the beginning of the event, with “Luta Armada”, by the Hotel Europa company, a co-production of the festival that analyzes this type of struggles in the second half of the 20th century in Portugal. .
oh São João National Theater, for its part, receives “a kind of triumphant ‘post-mortem’ return from the actress, poet, union leader and legend Manuela Rey”, in the show “Manuela Rey Is In Da House”, at the Galician Dramatic Center, in the same dates. “Sem Palavras”, by the Companhia Brasileira de Teatro, arrives at the Teatro Nacional São João on May 24 and 25, and the Teatro do Frio presents “Trajetória”, in Porto, Matosinhos and Viana do Castelo.
From Friday to Sunday, Jorge Andrade, from Mala Voadora, presents, in the company’s space in Porto, “Cantar de Galo”, written by Robert Schenkkan, an American winner of a Pulitzer, the story of a rooster from Barcelos who charges life and seeks answers to the dictator Salazar, comes to life in ‘deepfake’, which kept him as a nationalist symbol for 40 years.
This weekend, at the Carlos Alberto Theater, Ivo Alexandre returns to Ionesco’s burlesque and comic universe with “Amédée ou como Desembaraçar-se”. On May 21 and 22, “Una noche en el bar de oro” by Alberto Cortez will be presented at the Rivoli, the same venue as “The Possibility of Tenderness,” another national premiere, on May 23, by the company. Chilean La Re – Felt.
oh Constantino Nery Municipal Theaterin Matosinhos, presents “Maria Isabel”, by the Chilean Ana Luz Ormazábal, and also “Dona Pura e os Comaradas de Abril”, one of the shows related to the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, by Saaraci.
The work “A Nossa Última Manhã Aqui”, by Manuel Tur, reflects on Portuguese colonialism, opening the “complex but necessary” discussion on this topic, an “unthought of ours”, as Eduardo Lourenço called it, which Gonçalo Amorim admits there is a preponderance in the 2025 edition of the festival.
Parallel to the works, among other initiatives, training activities will be developed with the participation of artists passing through the city, as well as moments of performance, parties and meetings with programmers, in addition to round tables and other programs included in FITEI Aberto and FITEI. Pro.
Source: Observadora
