“Descobridores do amor” is described as “a journey between past and future, between memory and imagination,” according to the theater’s online introduction.
The play tells the story of “a poet who traversed various eras to reach” the stage, starting from an attempt to understand, through writing, the legacy left by parents and ancestors.
The synopsis explains that “through writing, the author distances himself from the figures he loves, betraying beliefs and memories, tearing everything until only the innermost thought remains,” ultimately imagining “a book lost in a shipwreck, perhaps destroyed by a child, whose words remain alive within.”
“Among the ghosts and lies of imagination,” the protagonist of the work “discovers a profound and personal truth.” In the end, “he offers himself to the audience: skin, words, and love – he is the actor of his own story.”
On stage, there are five characters portrayed by two actors: Zarolho, played by Petrônio Gontijo; and Velho, Velha, Inquisidor, and Criança, portrayed by Ademir Emboava, stated a source from Teatro S. Luiz.
“In a cave illuminated by a stream of light, Zarolho and Velho battle with words, bread, and wine. Zarolho is a character created and invented in its details from the dream spaces allowed by the biography of Luís Vaz de Camões,” reads the playbill.
While Zarolho “weaves fantastic tales of palaces, princesses, and fleeting loves to satisfy a hunger that is more than physical,” Velho “is the acid of digestion, the voice that deconstructs and points the finger at the necessary lie.”
Through these two characters and their transformations, “we participate in a circular journey through solitude, the act of creating narratives to survive, and the obstinate—and sometimes ridiculous—quest for a spark of love and beauty.”
The other three characters – Velha, Inquisidor (also referred to as the Tallest and the Great), and Criança – are “all projections of the different aspects of Zarolho’s psyche,” according to the presentation of the work.
As Zarolho’s journey through “these conflicting voices” constitutes the play, the climax is reached when, through the presence and action of Criança, a new form of being emerges: the poet Zarolho becomes a “simple man,” “empty of himself” who “can finally connect with other human beings authentically, through the simple and ancestral act of storytelling.”
“Descobridores do Amor” runs in the Mário Viegas room until September 28, with performances from Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
The session on the 16th includes interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language, and the performances on the 26th and 28th include audio description.
The costume designer for the play is Roselyn Silva, while the musical arrangement is by Nguila Wa Kwamba.
Paulo Barriga is involved in the research associated with the work, Ramadane Matusse in directing assistance, and Bruno Canas in video recording.
The play “Descobridores do Amor” is jointly produced by Teatro Aveirense (Aveiro), Teatro José Lúcio da Silva (Leiria), Teatro Virgínia (Torres Novas), and São Luiz Teatro Municipal de Lisboa.
