QWhen the TNDM building, in Lisbon, reopens after the works, “we will have to re-evaluate this way of traveling with our schedule”, said the artistic director of the theatre, Pedro Penim, to the Lusa agency.
“We have had, in most of the shows and the more traditional tour, let’s say, many full houses and sometimes in quite large theaters and that obviously gives us great satisfaction. Also because the center of our activity is to put on theater shows. And present them across the country and abroad”, added the artistic director of TNDM.
In a first assessment of the first three months of the National Odyssey, which throughout 2023 will take D. Maria II to more than ninety Portuguese municipalities, Pedro Penim stressed that the project “is fulfilled not only in the presentation of shows, but in other programs “.
And that is where it has been “a huge surprise, because it is a territory and terrain that, normally, the TNDM does not dare to tread, namely in work with the community, or training work”, he said, exemplifying with the exhibition “Who are you?”, inaugurated last March 25, in Águeda, and from which “the training program will also now start in full force”.
Pedro Penim said that the three months in which the National Odyssey passed through the North Region, in municipalities such as Amarante, Barcelos, Chaves, Fafe, Felgueiras and Vila Nova de Famalicão, gave “a taste” of what it could be as a whole.
Despite that region being “very well prepared in terms of equipment”, the program reached places “where it is difficult for the theater to be” and, in fact, D. Maria II had never been there.
For Pedro Penim, it is therefore “in these territories, possibly less obvious, that the ‘Odyssey’ has been fulfilled in its fullness”, not least because “it was conceived precisely for this type of activity”.
The artistic director of D. Maria II reiterated that the National Odyssey “is a project of territorial cohesion through art”, in this specific case “through theatre”.
Penim guarantees that the involvement of communities and publics, mayors and artists who live in the territories has been “really positive, with many promises to return, which is always something that fills us with joy”.
The requests for them to return quickly also leave the TNDM officials “a great responsibility to think about the ballast of this whole operation and how it is possible not to fail to carry out a National Odyssey even if on a different scale”, he said.
“Obviously, when the theater reopens we will have to re-equate this way of traveling with our programming”, he underlined, by the way.
Asked whether the National Odyssey will serve to extend the Eunice Network’s partnership to other theatres, Pedro Penim said that the objective of D. Maria II is “to reach where access is more complicated and where financial investment is much lower”.
Hence, they are more interested in the places that have the most difficulties, as they are the ones that can “benefit the most” from the National Odyssey and with which they want to “continue working”.
Not only in favor of the “democratization of the arts”, but also the “professionalization of these spaces”, so that artists can create in these territories in a more balanced and profitable way”.
The National Odyssey, which takes D. Maria “on a journey”, from the district of Viana do Castelo to Faro, the Azores and Madeira, includes several programs, such as Atos, the first partnership between TNDM and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation .
Under this partnership, 43 projects will be carried out in as many municipalities, which will be promoted by 16 artistic structures that aim to promote the Portuguese cultural fabric and the civic practices of the communities that reside there, through artistic and reflective projects.
“Landscapes”, “Heritage” and “People” are subdivisions of the program.
Valuing people, based on the diversity of local communities, in areas such as the inclusion of ethnic minorities, the promotion of gender equality, reversing the isolation of the elderly and the integration of immigrants are objectives at the base of the “People” axis, which involves projects such as “Pele”, “Cassandra”, “Lugarspecific”, “Ondamarela”, “Talkie walkie” and “Um Coletivo”, crossing the country from Paredes de Coura to Portimão.
“Frutos” is the name of the program in partnership with the National Arts Plan that will promote pedagogical actions aimed at all education cycles, bringing younger generations closer to the performing arts and encouraging their cultural and civic participation.
With “Cenários”, D. Maria II challenges the country to conceive other ways of seeing, at the end of each quarter, promoting a reflection on the route of the Odyssey itself.
In April, Odisseia Nacional moved to the Centro Region, where until the end of June it will have dozens of shows and activities.
The complete schedule of the National Odyssey can be consulted at www.tndm.pt.
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