The new artistic director of the municipal theater, José Nunes, stated today on the sidelines of a press conference that he was given “complete freedom” and “total autonomy” to craft his first cultural program for the institution.
“I also had the autonomy to go beyond the usual duties of an artistic director, being involved in the theater’s overall operation. Thus, it has been a very intense task of restructuring the theater departments, proposing new procedures, and rethinking the theater’s communication,” stated José Nunes, who managed a budget of 500,000 euros, divided between 200,000 from the Direção-Geral das Artes and the remainder from the municipality.
The program features the “Carta Branca a …” project, kicking off the September/December season with singer Marta Ren, who will take the stage on September 20.
It 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 through a current of songs that tell, invent, and reinvent her story,” as noted in the press dossier.
José Nunes also highlighted the “Chinfrim” show by Rita Redshoes, performances by the Quarteto de Cordas de Matosinhos, in new creative collaborations with the Sinfonietta de Braga, and pianist Pedro Burmester, in addition to the return of the Novos Talentos cycle of the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, by Capicua and the Braga-based band Mão Morta.
In the field of theater, the Matosinhos Municipal Theater’s program includes projects from various companies, with José Nunes highlighting co-productions with Visões Úteis, Formiga Atómica, or Teatro Praga, which will present in Matosinhos for the first time with the show “Audição” on October 10 and 11.
The Matosinhos Municipal Theater also maintains its connection with O Meu Primeiro 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, because, according to the new artistic director, “the theater should not only be a place for performances but also a place to reflect on what is done there and what is happening in the world.”
“The challenge of the Matosinhos Municipal Theater draws from Sérgio Godinho’s verses — ‘Peace, Bread, Housing, Health, Education’, in a cycle of five meetings with special guests like António Brito Guterres, Nuno Grande, João Costa, or researcher Luísa Semedo,” as stated in the press dossier.
The 17th anniversary of the new life of the Matosinhos Municipal Theater 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 extreme right and fascism.
The show “Speak Low” by Martim Sousa Tavares is another highlight for Nery’s 17th anniversary, blending theater, music, and cinema from Kurt Weill’s work.
The Constantino Nery Theater gained a “second life in 2008,” said Fernando Rocha, Culture Councilor at the Matosinhos City Council, who recalled that in 2023 there was a need to invest in an artistic director, leading to the hiring of Jorge Louraço Figueira.
“2023 was important because we were admitted into the network of Portuguese theaters and received support from the Direção-Geral das Artes, which was very beneficial. We concluded that we needed to invest in an artistic director. That’s how we ended up with José Nunes,” explained the Culture Councilor, highlighting that the Direção-Geral das Artes’ support requires equal co-financing from the municipality.
The new Nery season is the first exclusively created by the institution’s new artistic director, José Nunes, stemming from a “dialogue between different artistic languages and deep relationships with the community to embrace diversity, reflect on the country’s and the world’s issues, and project what we truly want to build,” as explained in the press note distributed to journalists today.
