The play “The Factory – a small story of the working class” will premiere at the Sociedade Filarmónica Recordação D’Apolo theater in Lisbon on Thursday. Directed by Marcelo Andrade, this is his second production focusing on the migrant experience in Portugal. The play invites the audience onto the stage while placing the actors in the seating area, aiming to “subvert the symbolic order of traditional spaces” in theater and to “encourage reflection on the role of each social agent,” thereby turning actors and audience into “protagonists in the debate about work.”
Andrade’s first play, “In the Shark’s Mouth,” staged in 2024, dealt with the challenges faced by immigrants traveling to Europe during a time when “there was already a sentiment against foreigners in Portugal,” though “not comparable to what is happening today,” said Marcelo Andrade to Lusa.
The issue of immigration “is being exploited by the far-right,” with a noticeable increase in tensions and violence, motivating this play to address “cross-cutting issues faced by immigrants and workers alike,” according to the director.
“An immigrant is still a person and labor issues affect everyone,” stated Andrade.
Currently, changes to the labor code are being debated, making a theater piece addressing labor issues particularly “timely,” noted Marcelo Andrade.
The goal is to “encourage people to view work holistically, including all that accompanies it, because low wages and the conditions faced by immigrants impact the entire productive chain.”
“If there is a cheap and vulnerable workforce, it logically affects other” social structures, emphasized Andrade.
“This second play will discuss labor issues and the precarization of immigrant workers, who are susceptible to rights violations,” aiming to “bring this debate into the public sphere.”
This is important because “all workers, both migrants and nationals, face pressures, endure low wages, and poor conditions,” he added.
By involving the audience on stage, the play seeks to “invite them into the debate, because we’re all in the same boat: in the world of work, everyone is equally exploited,” Andrade concluded.
The play will run until the end of the month, portraying the lives of “four immigrant textile workers who confront the harsh conditions imposed by job precarization,” according to the company, “a cultural association formed by Brazilian artists, with participation from Portuguese and other nationalities” aiming to promote “debate on immigration” through art.
“After a commercial agreement with foreign investors,” the play’s protagonists “experience severe rights violations, confined to the factory and subjected to exhausting shifts” in a “cycle of greed and abuse,” according to the show’s promoters.
