“It’s a great happiness, it’s a glorified compliment, it’s overwhelming news in many ways,” said Marco Mendonça regarding the award he received.
The winner of the award was announced today during a small ceremony at Teatro Variedades, moments before the premiere of ‘O Nariz de Cleópatra, pois claro!’, a show directed by Cristina Carvalhal, co-produced by her company, Causas Comuns, and TNDM.
The actor, playwright, and director sees the distinction “as a guarantee that there are attentive people and recognition” of his work as well as the work of those who have been involved in his projects.
“It’s important to know that there are groups of people – particularly peers. This is very important, staying attentive to artists and people who create and challenge the odds,” added Marco Mendonça.
Born in Mozambique in 1995 and residing in Lisbon since 2007, Marco Mendonça also highlighted the jury that chose him, composed of people he greatly respects and admires who, in a way, “also challenged the odds of success when they started.”
With a degree in Theatre, specializing in acting, from the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Marco Mendonça began working professionally in 2014 with the company Os Possessos.
In 2015, when “Tiago Rodrigues was taking his first steps as the artistic director of D. Maria II [since 2014]”, he was invited by Tiago to do an internship at the National Theatre, working also with other creators such as João Pedro Vaz, Faustin Linyekula, Paula Diogo, Catarina Requeijo, and the company Formiga Atómica.
He created ‘Parlamento Elefante’ with João Pedro Leal and Eduardo Molina, a project that won the 2019 edition of the Amélia Rey Colaço Grant, and ‘Cordyceps’ (2021), a play supported by the Rede 5 Sentidos, both initiatives by TNDM.
In 2015, he performed for Artistas Unidos at the former Teatro da Politécnica with the play ‘Os acontecimentos’ by David Greig, directed by António Simão, and seven years later, he participated in ‘Taco a taco’ by Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, directed by Pedro Carraca.
‘Blackface’ (2023) is the actor’s first independent creation, followed by ‘Reparations Baby!’, which premiered last June. Both works address themes “that deserve discussion such as racism or historical reparation,” he stated.
“These are not ideas that arise from a purely imaginative and romantic space or whatever one wants to call it. They are things I create based greatly on the reality I lived and the reality people close to me live as well,” he emphasized.
Regarding his creations, Marco Mendonça indicated they arose “from a great sense of urgency, a very strong need to stage themes” he feels “deserve to be discussed.”
“Subjects that generate a lot of polarization when they are exposed in the media, particularly in a public context,” and the actor understands “that this polarization often makes dialogue unfeasible even before it can begin.”
Besides working in film and television with Portuguese creators, Marco Mendonça is also part of the cast of Tiago Rodrigues’ play ‘Catarina e a beleza de matar fascistas’, on international tour since 2020.
Marco Mendonça stressed the “special significance” of receiving this award, considering it “a ‘full circle’ moment,” as it was “exactly 10 years ago” that he joined the D. Maria II as an intern.
“At the time Tiago Rodrigues was beginning his journey as artistic director,” someone he has “much to thank” for “opening that big gateway to the job market,” Mendonça highlighted, remembering that in that first season, he “had the opportunity to work with amazing people and projects.”
The actor also thanked all those he met over these 10 years. “Who taught me a lot and continue to teach.”
When asked about what he plans to do with the 5,000 euros included in the prize, Marco Mendonça answered that he will “save it.”
“I will save money because with the instability of this field it is also necessary.”
When asked by Lusa if he has any personal projects for the immediate future, Marco Mendonça said he has “ideas.” Currently, only “in research phase, still very embryonic,” without a title or synopsis, he concluded.
