O Dirks Theatre’s co-artistic director, Ip Ka Man, told Lusa that, after reading the story, included in one of Saramago’s first books, “Objeto Nunca” (1978), and during the creation of the play, he had “one question in mind: what is my land”.
“The concept of earth can be divided into two parts: one is physics and the other is our history, our feelings, our experience. And somehow they have to go together. Otherwise, it’s like the centaur, always half human, half horse”, he said.
The main character of “Echoes in Dreams”, despite having left her homeland some time ago, is still haunted by an inner voice that, in Cantonese, “continues to ask her why she doesn’t come back home”, revealed Ip .
“There are many people, everywhere in the world, who have to leave their lands, either by force or of their own accord, especially at this time”, the co-artistic director of the Dirks Theatre, Mable Wu May Bo, told Lusa, referring to to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to official data, Macau lost 24,200 people during the pandemic, due to rising unemployment and restrictions imposed to control the new coronavirus.
“We felt safe, but on the other hand we knew that there were so many things that were out of our control, that anything could happen at any time. That created a lot of uncertainty,” said Mable.
Ip Ka Man admitted that the pandemic also led the duo to question their artistic future. “During these three years we sometimes had some difficulties, even to formulate plans”, he explained.
Macau abandoned the ‘zero covid’ policy in mid-December and Ip says that Dirks Theater now wants to “connect more with the local community” and “inspire the audience to have the imagination to question life, the environment”.
With the end of restrictions, in a city whose economy depends on tourism, “everyone is always talking about the importance of economic growth, but the truth is that we sacrifice a lot to achieve this”, underlined the co-director.
In early December, Kwok Wai Tak, Deputy Head of Psychiatric Services at Centro Hospitalar Conde de São Januário, a public hospital in Macau, admitted that the increase in suicides was due to anti-pandemic policies.
“The relationship between people in Macao is so intimate, so complicated. This greatly affects people’s ability to express themselves”, lamented Ip Ka Man.
“Macao people are not so open about how they feel,” added Mable Wu, who was born in neighboring Hong Kong, also a Chinese special administrative region.
“I feel that in recent years they’ve wanted to express themselves, but maybe they don’t know how to address people outside their comfort zone,” said the Dirks Theater co-director.
“Echoes in Dreams”, which mixes theatrical scenes and video projection, will be on stage at the Macao Contemporary Art Center – Naval Workshops No. 2 on Thursday and Saturday.
Also Read: “José Saramago’s legacy is a strong bond that connects Portugal and Spain”
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