“Sorry, we didn’t meet on these streets
We’ll only be born tomorrow.”
Lídia Jorge
Fifty-one years after the Carnation Revolution, memory is both a battlefield and a space for creation. In “Os Memoráveis,” the stage transforms into a living archive, a documentary and fictional laboratory, where testimonies, ghosts, and mythologies of April intersect.
Based on Lídia Jorge’s novel, the Algarve-based artistic structure Mákina de Cena creates a sweeping show that straddles theatre, video installation, and performance.
In the original narrative, we follow Ana Maria Machado, a Portuguese journalist based in Washington, who was invited by the former US ambassador to make a documentary about April 25th. Back in Portugal, Ana reunites with two former colleagues and embarks on an odyssey of interviews with protagonists of the revolution, attempting to understand what remains of the promise of April. In this theatrical adaptation, this journey is transposed to the stage with all its paradoxes: glorification and disenchantment, myth and truth, the collective and the intimate. The result is a hybrid and ambitious artistic object, where each interview is treated as an episode, each scene a confrontation between past and present.
Director Carolina Santos proposes a radically contemporary approach, faithful to the literary depth of the work, but open to the intersection of scenic languages. The show calls for screen acting and live theatrical play, live and pre-recorded video projections, real-time set manipulation, direct contact with the audience, and a 45-minute intermezzo with dinner. A gesture that is not only aesthetic, but ethical, rekindling conviviality and sharing as revolutionary practices.
With 14 performers (a total cast of 20, the full crew has 34 members), from young reporters to Memoráveis in their fifties, the show also serves as a mirror of the post-revolutionary generations. The cast includes prominent names such as Sara Vicente, Beatriz Medeiros, and Diogo Simão, as well as Luís Vicente (ACTA), Zeca Medeiros, Dinis Gomes, Paulo Moreira, Pedro Monteiro, Glória Fernandes, and Telma Saião, among others. More than a production, “Os Memoráveis” is a manifesto that the Algarve is a land of demanding creation, unafraid of great texts or grand stages.
The premiere is scheduled for September 25 and 26, 2025, at 7 pm, at the Cineteatro Louletano in Loulé, the project’s main co-producer.
In 2026, the show will continue its tour, with performances already confirmed at the municipal theatres of Lagos and Lagoa, as well as a special season at Teatro Lethes in Faro, in partnership with ACTA – Algarve Theatre Company.
Mákina de Cena’s “Os Memoráveis” is an attempt to understand the Revolution not as a closed chapter, but as an open process. A show that fears neither duration nor complexity, inviting the audience to consider the country as if looking into a broken mirror, trying to recognise themselves among the shards, but also, perhaps, invent new images of the future.
A commission by Cineteatro Louletano – Municipality of Loulé, co-produced by the Municipality of Lagos, in partnership with ACTA-Teatro Lethes and the Municipality of Lagoa, and funded by the Portuguese Republic’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Directorate-General for the Arts, under the Sustained Support Biennial 25-26.
Tickets cost €15 and are available at BOL and at the Cine Louletano box office. The ticket includes a 45-minute buffet dinner. The show runs 180 minutes, excluding the dinner break. After this break, the play will resume.
Premiere
September 25 and 26, 2025
7 p.m.
Cineteatro Louletano, Loulé
Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the access conditions, confirmation of the date and time, ticket sales location, price, and availability.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to access exclusive content tailored for each social network.
Original post from 2025.09.11
