At a press conference today, the new artistic director of the municipal theater, José Nunes, stated he had “complete freedom” and “full autonomy” to design his first cultural program for the institution.
“I even had the autonomy to go beyond the typical duties of an artistic director, getting involved in the overall operation of the theater. Hence, it’s been an intensive effort to restructure the theater’s departments, propose new procedures, and rethink the theater’s communication,” José Nunes said, working with a budget of 500,000 euros, divided between 200,000 from the Directorate-General for the Arts and the remainder from the municipality.
The program includes the project “Carta Branca a …,” launching the September/December season with singer Marta Ren, who will take the stage on September 20.
The event will be “both a concert and a performance,” where Marta Ren will open the “chest of time” to “revisit the memories that shaped her voice and soul,” inviting the audience to “navigate a stream of songs that tell, invent, and reinvent her story,” according to the press release.
José Nunes also highlighted the show “Chinfrim” by Rita Redshoes, the participation of the Matosinhos String Quartet in new creative collaborations with the Braga Sinfonietta, and pianist Pedro Burmester, as well as the return of the New Talents cycle of the Matosinhos Jazz Orchestra, Capicua, and the Braga-based Mão Morta.
In theater, the Matosinhos Municipal Theater’s programming includes projects from various companies, with José Nunes emphasizing co-productions with Visões Úteis, Formiga Atómica, or Teatro Praga, which will make its first appearance in Matosinhos with the play “Audição” on October 10 and 11.
The Matosinhos Municipal Theater will also maintain its connection with My First FITEI and the Porto International Puppet Festival, during which the international show “Mitzi’s Human” by Ariel Doron will be presented.
Another pillar of this new program is a series of conversations with Anabela Mota Ribeiro and guests, starting on September 23, as the new artistic director believes “theater should not only be a place for performances but also a venue for contemplation on its activities and world events.”
“The challenge of the Matosinhos Municipal Theater draws from Sérgio Godinho’s verses — ‘Peace, Bread, Housing, Health, Education,’ in a series of five meetings featuring special guests like António Brito Guterres, Nuno Grande, João Costa, and researcher Luísa Semedo,” the press folder states.
The 17th anniversary of Matosinhos Municipal Theater’s revitalization will be celebrated over four days with several special performances, including the concert “Viva La Muerte” by Mão Morta, which reflects on the threats of the far-right and fascism.
The show “Speak Low,” by Martim Sousa Tavares, is another highlight for the theater’s 17th anniversary, blending theater, music, and cinema based on Kurt Weill’s work.
The Theater Constantino Nery gained a “second life in 2008,” said today the culture counselor in the Matosinhos City Council, Fernando Rocha, who recalled in 2023 that the need arose to invest in an artistic director, leading to the hiring of Jorge Louraço Figueira.
“2023 was significant as we were admitted to the Portuguese theater network and received support from the Directorate-General for the Arts, which was very beneficial, and we concluded that we needed to invest in an artistic director. That’s how we got to José Nunes,” explained the culture councilor, noting that support from the Directorate-General for the Arts requires equal contribution from the municipality.
The new season at Nery is the first entirely devised by the institution’s new artistic director, José Nunes, and draws on “dialogue between different artistic languages and deep community relationships to embrace diversity, reflect on national and global issues, and project what we genuinely wish to build,” explains the press release distributed to journalists today.
