“ANDThis year we understood in conversations, looking at the artists, looking at the state of mind of our partners (…), that we should during this year (…) work on the themes ‘Trauma and Bravery'”, declared the artistic director from FITEI, Gonçalo Amorim, during the press conference to present the festival programme, at the Port wine cellars, in Vila Nova de Gaia.
Gonçalo Amorim explained that the theme “Trauma” arises because of the sequence of “three traumas in a row: the migratory crisis with many people dying before reaching Europe, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine”.
On the other hand, the theme of “Bravery” can be related both to the bravery of the “mother who holds her son in her arms to cross the Mediterranean on the raft”, and to the “single mother from Portugal who has three jobs to hold the boat “, added the artistic director of the festival, which will also take place in Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia and Viana do Castelo.
The 46th edition of FITEI kicks off on May 10th with the show “#5 Bochizami”, a creation by Flávia Gusmão, in co-production with FITEI, which premieres on the substage of Rivoli, in Porto.
“It is the third part of a trilogy that she (Flávia Gusmão) dedicates to a Cape Verdean cultural activist and artist Samira Pereira (1976-2021), who died of covid-19 during the pandemic crisis”, said Gonçalo Amorim.
It is a “‘travelling’ about the stoppage of time that is mourning. It is a ‘travelling’ through individual and collective memories, real or fictional”, reads in the press dossier given to journalists.
On the 11th, at Teatro Carlos Alberto, in Porto, the show “Cosmos”, by Cleo Isabel, Isabél Zuaa and Nádia Iracema, arrives.
The interpretation of “Hamlet”, by Chela de Ferrari, will take a group of people with Down syndrome to the stage of the Teatro Nacional São João, in Porto, on May 12th.
According to Gonçalo Amorim, the Peruvian company’s play is a national premiere, which has as its starting point the question about the existence “To be or not to be”, which is constructed from Shakespeare’s text and the actors’ lives, and what means being for people who cannot find spaces where they are not considered.
“Morria”, by the Spanish Mario Veja, is another national premiere, and tells the story of two refugees and their families who are forced to flee their country and which is based on real testimonies filmed in the refugee camp of Moria, in Greece, under the supervision of Nicolas Catellano, a journalist who has spent the last 20 years reporting on forced migration and human rights.
The show arrives in Porto and goes to Viana do Castelo, to Teatro Sá de Miranda.
The world premiere of “Piloto”, co-staged by Joana Magalhães, Mafalda Lencastre and Maria Inês Marques, in co-production with FITEI, is another highlight of the festival’s organization, which will be hosted at Teatro Campo Alegre.
The piece brings together a multidisciplinary group to design a thematic amusement park that allows you to experience adrenaline in a controlled way, “a simulacrum of what real life could be like if everything went well”, reads in the press dossier.
“O Sistema”, by Cristina Planas Leitão, “Limbo” by Victor Oliveira, “Subterrâneo, um Musical obscuro”, by the Portuguese Má-Criação with the Brazilians Foguetes Maravilha and Dimenti, “Ibérica sector 5”, by the company Visões Úteis, or “If I were Nina”, by Rita Calçada Bastos, inspired by Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, are other highlights of FITEI 2023.
The festival also has a musical program and presents projects with several schools in Porto, ending on the 21st of May.
Also Read: Physical theater company JAT presents ‘Cocktail da Evolução’ in Faro
Always be the first to know.
Seventh consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press.
Download our free App.
