José Saramago’s play “The Night”, written in 1979 and set during the night of April 24-25, 1974, will be premiered on Thursday at the Estoril Academy of Arts in Cascais, the production company announced.
“The Night”, the first play written by Saramago, will be performed four times at the Carlos Avilez Auditorium, adapted and directed by Paulo Sousa Costa, who is putting it on stage as the 50th anniversary of April 25 is celebrated.
Playing “A noite” are Diogo Morgado, Jorge Corrula, João Didelet, Elsa Galvão, Ricardo de Sá, Luís Pacheco, Henrique de Carvalho, Sara Cecília and João Redondo.
Saramago dedicated the play to actress, playwright and director Luzia Maria Martins (1927-2000), founder of Lisbon’s Teatro Estúdio, a forerunner of independent theater in Portugal, who “thought he was capable of writing” for the stage, as the producer recalls in the presentation of the work.
The plot takes place in a newspaper office in Lisbon, on the night before the Carnation Revolution, and the action centers on an argument between Manuel Torres, a provincial editor who defends journalistic truth, and his editor-in-chief, Abílio Valadares, who is submissive to the dictatorship and censorship in Portugal. Alongside Abílio Valadares is the newspaper’s director, Máximo Redondo.
Manuel Torres, “an idealist who is going to fight for the truth to return to the pages of ‘his’ newspaper, which he can’t tolerate being undermined by third parties, is in systematic confrontation with his boss. Allied with Manuel Torres are Cláudia, a young trainee, and Jerónimo, a typesetter and head of the night shift.
The conflict escalates when the newsroom receives information that a revolution may be underway in the streets. The editor-in-chief forbids any information to be reported, increasing the tension in the team, as Manuel Torres and Jerónimo demand confirmation of the information, the facts and, if proven, that they make the front page of the next day’s edition.
Opposing their intentions are Abílio Valadares and Manuel Redondo, who do everything they can to downplay the situation and not report it, even if they have to “fix” the breakdowns in the typesetting and printing machines.
The growing uncertainty about what is happening on the streets is proportional to what is happening in the newsroom and the questions the situation is raising. The only one who remains calm is Faustino, the paper’s janitor, who knows more than he seems to.
“The Night” is directed by Paulo Sousa Costa and Pedro Matias, with set design by José Teles.
The technical direction is by Bruno Lucas and sound technician Fernando Lopes, the design and lighting technique by Ariene Godoy and the image creation, video and voice-over by Pedro Matias.
“Que farei com esta noite?”, “A segunda vida de Francisco de Assis”, “In Nomine Dei” and “Don Giovanni ou o dissoluto absolvido” are the other dramatic works by José Saramago, winner of the 1995 Camões Prize and the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.
“A noite” will then go on tour, with shows scheduled for the Centro de Artes de Águeda (April 5), Casino da Figueira da Foz (April 12 and 13), Coliseu do Porto (April 22), Salão Preto e Prata do Casino Estoril (April 24 and 25), Centro de Artes e Espectáculos de Guimarães (April 27 and 28) and Teatro das Figuras, in Faro (May 1).
The four performances of “The Night” at the Carlos Avilez Auditorium in Estoril this week take place on Thursday (already sold out), Friday and Saturday, always at 21:00, and on Sunday at 17:00.
The production is by the Yellow Star Company.