performance

Pérola sem Rapariga | Teatro Nacional D. Maria II
2023

Pérola Sem Rapariga is the result of a dialogue between director Zia Soares and writer Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida who, in 2023-24, set out to develop artistic processes in which text, dramaturgy and staging are constructed in parallel, in confrontation or harmony, opening up a dialogical flow that leads to discourse for the stage. Pérola Sem Rapariga is inspired by the reading of Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems, by Robin Coste Lewis, and the photographic archive of Alberto Henschel. The show considers the relationship between the surface of the body and what we are able to say about it, between caption and image, between skin and rescue. The artist Kiluanji Kia Henda intervenes in the space of the scene by installing possible directions for the conflict between the body and the more or less oppressive ways of representing it.

Zia Soares is a theater director and actress. Daughter of an Angolan mother and Timorese father, she was born in Bié, Angola, and lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Her work is developed and presented between Africa and Europe in collaboration with trans and multidisciplinary artists.

Coro dos Assombrados | INSTITUTO / Boca Festival
2023

In dialog with Neusa Trovoada's exhibition CHORUS 1.8, director and actress Zia Soares is presenting the performance Coro dos Assombrados. The artist investigates colonial and post-colonial power relations from a poetic and plastic universe that forges a counter-memory for Europe. Written by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, the performance brings together a set of disturbing voices while reflecting on historical silences and the political and subjective power of the voice. Coro dos Assombrados premiered at INSTITUTO, in Porto, and was performed afterwards at Boca Festival.

Irene | Panos - palcos novos palavras novas / Teatro Nacional D. Maria II
2023

Irene's son disappeared in Luanda in February 1974. For years, the mother has searched endlessly for her son Joaquim. But who will look after Irene while she searches for her son? Who is she? Irene, by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, reflects on the lives of migrant mothers in Portugal, who, having left everything behind, struggle to find meaning in their lives.

PANOS - palcos novos palavras novas is a project of the D. Maria II National Theatre that promotes youth theater in Portugal and new dramaturgies. A project where theater by and for young people aged 12 to 19 is read, performed and presented. In each edition, we commission three plays from some of the most exciting contemporary writers. In the 2023 edition, young people will present original texts by André Tecedeiro (The Essay), Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida (Irene) and Ondjaki (Two People & an Island Alone). As part of the Odisseia Nacional Initiative, the PANOS Festival takes place in Ílhavo, in partnership with 23 Milhas, a cultural project in the municipality. A collective and intense celebration of the theatrical experience over three days, in which six of the shows created will be presented to the public, at Ílhavo's Casa da Cultura and Fábrica das Ideias (Gafanha da Nazaré). On May 27, there will also be the launch of the book PANOS 2023 and the debate Artistic practices with young people - Behind PANOS at Ílhavo's Casa da Cultura, and a party at Costa Nova's Cais Criativo.

Os dias mais longos e os mais curtos | Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
2022

Known for his majestic works on socially important themes, Hong Kong-based Eugene Birman is, in the words of the BBC, a composer of “high drama” and “intense emotion”. The convergence of major current issues and the search for supreme beauty has frequently manifested itself in works for vocal ensembles, culminating in Os dias mais longos e os mais curtos, produced for the Gulbenkian Foundation and performed for the first time. Introducing groundbreaking technology to the concert hall, the work, for Birman, is also an opportunity to return to an issue he considers central and one amplified by the pandemic: how essential is artistic creation to contemporary society?