In the performance, artist and collector Raquel André and actor and director Tonan Quito join forces to tell stories of births that are simultaneously “stories of life, death, nationalities, ancestry, rituals, birth policies, and sentimental stories that traverse the utopia of a new life,” according to the show’s presentation, which will be held four times from the 25th to the 28th at Culturgest.
Raquel André and Tonan Quito drew from the concept “It takes a village” to raise a child, calling on their personal stories and real families — mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, nephews, children, stepdaughters, close friends —, as well as their theater stories to reflect on community and care networks.
What a family means and how love is built step by step throughout life is what the two creators aim to present to the audience through the familial structures created by their births, inviting the audience to sit at the table while asserting that “educating a child is a political act,” adds the text presenting the play.
In the show, the artists rehearse their families, and their families rehearse a theater play, merging performance, theater, and video, where ‘Restart’ emerges from this pair of artists with different ways of doing and thinking about theater.
Raquel André and Tonan Quito came together due to a shared desire to transform life on stage and use theater “to rehearse possible futures, between the personal and the political, fiction and experience, reflection and humor.”
‘Restart’ is co-created by actor and artist Bernardo de Almeida, with text by playwright, poet, and artist André Tecedeiro, and results from the work of an artistic creation team, which includes José António Tenente (costumes), Fernando Ribeiro (scenography), Ágata Cigarra (music), Wilma Moutinho (lighting design), and director Afonso Sousa (video), among others.
At Culturgest, ‘Restart’ is presented from Wednesday to Friday at 9:00 PM, with sessions accessible to different audiences, offering audio descriptions, Portuguese Sign Language interpretation, and descriptive subtitles.
The show is co-produced by Culturgest, Cineteatro Louletano, Teatro Viriato in Viseu, Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias in Funchal, Teatro Aveirense, and Teatro Cine Torres Vedras.
‘Restart’ will be performed on October 10th in Viseu. In March 2026, it will be presented at Teatro Aveirense, in April at Cine Torres Vedras, and in June, it will arrive in Funchal.
