The play, with texts by the author of ‘Fado Alexandrino’ and ‘O Manuel dos Inquisidores’ selected by Pierre-Étienne Heymann, is being performed at the Salão Nobre of the Teatro Garcia de Resende, starting today through Saturday, daily at 7:00 PM.
The Cendrev stated in a release that the 50th Anniversary of the April 25th Commemorative Commission invited 10 historic theater companies to “present an artistic creation or restaging that contributes to public awareness of the role theater played in the democratic transition.”
“Theater companies that were active during the Revolution and that were founded or consolidated during that period” were selected, such as Cendrev, noting that the projects, evaluated by the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES), are being carried out until the end of this year.
The Évora Dramatic Center reminded that its theatrical project created in Évora in January 1975 “is naturally a legitimate child of the Portuguese revolution.”
Thus, in response to the challenge integrated into the 50th-anniversary celebrations of April 25th, which began last year, “the idea of revisiting the texts of António Lobo Antunes emerged immediately once again.”
“These had already resulted in a first show in 2004 and a second approach in 2014, in a partnership between Cendrev and ACTA – Algarve Theater Company,” it recalled.
Both projects featured dramaturgy and direction by Pierre-Étienne Heymann, “a man of theater deeply knowledgeable about the work of this author who focused on the Portuguese revolution in several of his works,” the company explained.
“We summoned this panel of characters, brilliantly crafted by the poetics and insight of Lobo Antunes, to confront the audience with a collection of views and concerns about these events that profoundly transformed the life of the Portuguese people,” it can be read.
With the April Revolution, Cendrev argued, “not only political freedom and democracy were achieved,” but “conditions for remarkable civilizational advancements were also created that are now being profoundly eroded.”
Since theater is “a privileged space for human encounter and reflection, this major event in our history could not fail to be a matter of our work,” argued the Alentejo theater company.
The play ‘Autos da Revolução’ premiered on October 25 last year at the Arraiolos Municipal Library in the district of Évora, and was subsequently presented in various cities across the country.
The restaging of the play is accompanied, as during the first time, by the traveling exhibition ‘Liberdade! Liberdade! A Revolução no Teatro’, organized by the National Museum of Theater and Dance, with the support of the 50 Years April 25th Commemorative Commission.
Curated by Nuno Costa Moura and traveling throughout the country, the exhibition, opening at 5:30 PM today, will be on display at the Teatro Garcia de Resende in Évora until May 11, addressing the role of theatrical art in the transition between regimes.
Also read:
