The Ensemble presents “Despe-te [Isabel]” by British playwright Ella Hickson at Teatro Helena Sá e Costa, in Porto, on the 10th, 11th and 12th of March, at 9 pm.
The play premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2019 and reflects on the ways and means that women in power are forced to use to resist male pressure and manage to survive in a world that is fundamentally hostile to them and their bodies. Ella Hickson thus casts an eloquent and intellectually agile look at contemporary themes from a historical perspective.
More than pretending to be a historical piece, “Despe-te [Isabel]” portrays the life of Elizabeth I, the only single woman who ever ruled England. And she reigned successfully for forty-four years. Power is a game and she understood that better than anyone. There was no need to have a man, to have an owner, or to have children. It would not be what a woman is supposed to be, nor would it do what it is advisable for a woman to do. She would only be left with the queen that the centuries baptized as a virgin since history finds it difficult to distinguish between the person and the gender.
“Despe-te [Isabel]” features performances by Emília Silvestre, Ana Pinheiro, Filomena Gigante and Margarida Carvalho. The staging is in charge of Pedro Galiza. Co-production with Casa das Artes de Famalicão in June 2021.
The Ensemble – Sociedade de Atores is an artistic structure for the creation, investigation, experimentation and continuous training of actors. Formed in Porto, in 1996, by the actors Emília Silvestre and Jorge Pinto, he immediately had the support of the Ministry of Culture/DGArtes – which he has maintained since then – the Porto City Council and Gulbenkian, recognized for the importance of its cultural project in artistic diversity and widening of audiences. It has captivated the interest and partnerships of entities as diverse as Teatro Nacional São João, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Teatro D. Maria II, Teatro S. Luiz, Festival Temps D’Images, Casa das Artes de Famalicão, the Municipal Theater of Bragança, the Municipal Theater of Vila Real, the Sá de Miranda Theater or the CCB.
Over the last 25 years, it has presented shows by classical authors as diverse as Molière, Shakespeare, Tchèckov or Ibsen, by contemporaries such as Brian Friel, Samuel Beckett, Arnold Wesker, Bernard-Marie Koltès, Tom Kempinski, Jean Cocteau or Arthur Giron; edited new translations; commissioned original texts and brought to the scene Portuguese playwrights such as Luísa Costa Gomes, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Mickael de Oliveira and Ricardo Alves, involving more than two hundred actors, dancers, musicians, choreographers, light, sound and video designers, set designers and costume designers. and prestigious directors such as Ricardo Pais, Toni Servillo, Jorge Silva Melo, Fernanda Lapa, Rogério de Carvalho, Nuno Carinhas and Carlos Pimenta.
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