5 plays to see on Theater Day 2024

Celebrate World Theater Day and immerse yourself in the vibrant world of performing arts with a diverse selection of theater pieces that promise to move you, provoke reflection and transport you to different realities. From Lisbon to Porto, these productions stand out not only for their artistic quality, but also for their social and cultural relevance.

1. To the extent of the impossible

National premiere of the show that director Tiago Rodrigues created based on dozens of interviews with people who work at the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. The artistic director of the most iconic theater festival in Europe, Avignon, drew on experiences in the extreme conditions in which these humanitarian professionals work daily – they who realize that they are not going to change the world, but can win small battles, with an impact on lives of the people they help. Drummer Gabriel Ferrandini's music rescues the unspeakable, the horror and suffering, which we did not want to explore, but which cannot be silenced.
Culturgest, Lisbon > 17-25 Apr

2. Alexandrian Fado

The 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution marks the programming of the first semester of the Teatro Nacional São João. This new production stands out, directed by Nuno Cardoso, which starts from the dramatization of António's novel Lobo Antunes, an account of the reunion of five soldiers who returned from the Colonial War. The characters' experiences, in four periods – the Estado Novo, the memory of the fighting in Mozambique, the Carnation Revolution and the post-Revolution – intersect on stage, in an allegory about the fate of being Portuguese.
São João National Theatre, Porto > 5-8 Apr

3. I Wanted to Know Who I Am

The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II remains closed for works, but its productions will return to Lisbon for the Abril Abriu cycle, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Revolution and its achievements. This will be one of the most memorable shows, with text and staging by Pedro Penim and musical direction by Filipe Sambado. Halfway between the concert and the play, “it aims to revisit the songs of the Revolution, the slogans, the songs that were weapons, but also the personal stories of the generations that made the 25th of April”. For the cast, young actors, singers and instrumentalists, between 16 and 20 years old, were chosen from a national audience.
São Luiz Municipal Theater, Lisbon > 20-28 Apr

4. Mercado das Madrugadas / Hideous Men

Patrícia Portela presents herself in a double dose. First, he wrote the text and production of Mercado das Madrugadas, and occupied Largo de São Domingos, in Lisbon, in an unconventional production by the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II; then goes to Porto, to stage Heinous Men, by the North-American David Foster Wallace, a solo performed by Nuno Cardoso, who transforms into the different male characters.
LG. de S. Domingos, Lisbon > 9-12 May > Teatro Carlos Alberto, Porto > 20-30 Jun

5. Yes or Less, it's 1:00 am and I don't want to go home

Ulysses: A European Odyssey is the largest and longest-running artistic project celebrating the work of James Joyce. Led by Arts Over Borders, an Irish organization that presents cross-border art festivals, it involves 18 cities in 16 countries. In 2024, this epic journey arrives in Lisbon, led by Marco Martins, who once again works with a non-professional cast to create a play based on the circumstances and experiences of a group of young people institutionally housed. The show will address issues such as marginalization, social reintegration and abandonment, as well as aging and generational confrontation.
São Luiz Municipal Theatre, Lisbon > 8-16 June

Source: Vision