The D. Maria II National Theatre continues its Odyssey through Portugal, having concluded, at the end of March, the first quarter of activities in the Northern Region, covering more than 8,000 spectators and about 2,500 active participants in the various projects. In schools, the project reached 81 classes of all education cycles and 2000 spectators.
The end of the programming in the North was marked by a major thinking event (Past Scenarios), held over three days in Guimarães.
The second quarter (April - June) of the National Odyssey covers 31 municipalities in the Centre region of the country and will include shows (several of them in their national première), participation projects involving local communities, activities for students, trainings and also an exhibition and a great thinking event, Cenários Presentes [Present Scenarios], which will take place in Torres Vedras, on June 30th and July 1st.
The Centre of the country will host the national premiere of the shows Silence, silence, silence, please, a play about the invasion of Ukraine, by the Ukrainian director Pavlo Yurov, The Three Sisters, a trans reading of Chékov’s classic by Tita Maravilha, The Idiots, created by the company Terceira Pessoa, Pearl without a Girl, a show with an original text by celebrated writer Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida and directed by Zia Soares, As Castro, created by Raquel Castro, Ifigénia, a staging by Claudia Stavisky of the text by Tiago Rodrigues, and also several plays developed by school and youth theatre groups, with original texts by André Tecedeiro, Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida and Ondjaki, presented in the context of the project PANOS - palcos novos palavras novas.
A project that takes place in over 90 municipalities throughout the country during 2023, the D. Maria II National Odyssey includes hundreds of proposals grouped into five programmes:
- Peças [Plays]: composed of shows, D. Maria II’s signature projects and book launches.
- Atos [Acts]: composed of 43 participation projects, developed by 16 artistic structures, with communities from all the regions of the country.
- Frutos [Fruits]: programme dedicated to schools, composed of four projects aimed at all school cycles.
- Cenários [Scenarios]: thinking event that reflects on the National Odyssey's path and highlights regional work, with an aggregating look at the respective region, which takes place at the end of each quarter.
- Nexos [Connections]: a program made up of training cycles that place the technical and management skills of D. Maria II at the service of partner equipments of the National Odyssey and the Network of Portuguese Theatres and Cineteatres.
- And also the Exhibition Who Are You? - The National Theatre, the Dictatorship and Democracy, curated by Tiago Bartolomeu Costa and developed in partnership with the Commemorative Commission of the 50th Anniversary of the 25th of April and the National Theatre and Dance Museum.
In January this year, the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II closed the doors of its building, located in the centre of the capital, for renovation work and began a veritable National Odyssey. A project made up of hundreds of proposals, developed in partnership with 93 municipalities from all the regions of continental Portugal and the islands. After its journey through the Centre of the country, it will be followed, until the end of 2023, by the Azores, in July, Madeira, in September, and the regions of Alentejo and Algarve, from October to December.
With this project, the D. Maria II National Theatre will be present throughout the country, for one year, intervening in regions where there is already strong creative dynamics, but also being a catalyst for the cultural life of communities where there is less access to artistic practices, with particular focus on the interior of the country, contributing to the development of cultural democracy.
Get to know the entire programme of the National Odyssey, in detail here.
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